The Foolish, Weak, and Lowly

By: Kim Garrett

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29

Growing up, I wasn't an asset for the school sports teams. After tryouts, I'd dread viewing the list of selectees displayed on the coach's office door. Usually, my name never appeared. Physical strength wasn't one of my virtues, so some thought it foolish to pick someone who could hardly run a straight line. When uniforms and equipment were required to participate, our family often lacked the funds to purchase them. Back then, I would have loved to avoid that "choosing" process altogether. I remember staying in the background, wallowing in self-inflicted shame, echoing repetitive lies in my head: "You're not good enough, Kim."

God sees what our culture misses. In fact, Scripture tells us He deliberately chooses people the world overlooks. God chooses the ones our world calls nobodies to expose the shallowness of the world's somebodies. God makes it crystal clear: Nobody can be prideful, because everything we have comes from God, and it comes through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Matthew 1 is a detailed list of Jesus' lineage. If we examine Jesus' lineage closely, we'll quickly see God's list is filled with people our world might label as problematic nobodies:

1. Abraham lied about his wife twice (called her his sister) to save his own neck.
2. Jacob deceived his brother, lied to his father, and got swindled while swindling others.
3. Rahab was a prostitute.
4. Ruth was a non-Jewish foreigner.
5. David committed adultery with Bathsheba and arranged her husbands murder

The Bible is full of "characters" whose lives were filled with mistakes. Yet, God used all of them in mighty ways for His glory. God forgives our mistakes because He has a heart of grace, mercy, and love. Those imperfect people may have been nobodies by the world's definition, are all part of Jesus' lineage. God divinely chose them and changed them for something greater... God's plans were greater than their past mistakes!

God's message in that lineage is this: Jesus can transform us from nobodies into somebodies! God adores people the world sees as foolish, weak, and lowly because He wants to use them mightily.