In Greek mythology, there is a hero called Achilles, he is the main character in the Iliad. His mother dipped him in the River Styx as a baby to make him immortal and super-powered, but she held him by the heel so the heel never went into the river. Therefore, he could be killed, but only by a blow to the heel.
It’s a story that has lasted centuries because it contains a truth that is universal to humanity – every one of us contains weakness. As Christians, we are earthen vessels containing great treasure. God is very aware of this – “He remembers we are but flesh” (Psalm 78.39). But you need to be aware of it too. You need to perceive your weakness, not so you can exalt it, but so you can be aware of it and ensure it does not destroy you. A refusal to look and perceive that you have weakness will lead to your destruction – pride leads to destruction.
Once you perceive your main weakness, your Achilles heel, you are going to save yourself a world of pain! I know several brilliant men who have failed to perceive their frailness and weakness, and I have watched that weakness destroy them. A weakness not addresses will grow – Jesus talks about yeast that infects everything. You cannot afford to ignore your Achilles heel. Your treasure is in a vessel of clay, and if you do not dominate that vessel, it will move your life towards destruction.
The truth is we all have sinned, so we all have vulnerable areas in our life, in our thinking, and if you do not deal with it you will end up in trouble. Judas had a weakness – it was a love of money (twinned with envy, as it often is), and he did not address it and ended up possessed by satan. He could have been one of the twelve, he could have spent decades ministering in the early church filled with the power of the Spirit taking the gospel to the nations. But he did not perceive his weakness, he did not deal with it, and ended up betraying Jesus for a price.
Satan loves to get involved in your weakness. He sent messengers to Judas to offer him money, he sent Delilah to Samson to offer him immoral sex, and he left Job’s wife alive to strengthen his self-doubt. Satan has an agenda to get you to sin so that you can die (see James 1.15).
Jesus loves to reveal someone’s weakness to them, not to patronize them, but to help them. He told Simon that his weakness was the fear of man and that within a day he would deny Jesus due to the fear of man – and He prayed for Peter too.
You need to know that your weakness is a magnet, and will attract the wrong people to you. The amount of people that tell me they always attract the wrong kind of man or woman – it’s because they have never dealt with their Achilles Heel! Your weakness also separates you from the right people, it makes you uncomfortable in the presence of people who will not justify your weakness.
Now once you perceive your weakness, your Achilles heel, you cannot beat it with will-power. If you could, you would have done by now. You need the power of the Holy Spirit. You need to feast on the Word of God, you need to see yourself how God sees you and you need to listen carefully to Jesus. You don’t need to tell the world, but you do need to tell someone. You need someone strong and mature in Christ to stand with you and help you be accountable before it grows. YOU CANNOT CHANGE WHAT YOU NEVER CONFRONT. If you think it is just a small little sin, and everyone has a little vice, then you are in big trouble and heading to destruction.
I believe that when David killed Goliath, the entire nation changed. I believe when you deal with the heel, everyone around you will change. You need Scriptures to deal with it, and you need to remember that dealing with it will bring a Heavenly reward.
Become an enemy to your Achilles Heel. Let your story be one of victory – do not become a retelling of Samson or Saul. If Judas had the power to walk away from thirty pieces of silver, we would have a very different Bible and his name wouldn’t be synonymous with back-stabbing.
If you have failed, get back up and start looking forward. Struggling? Good – that means you have not been beaten yet.
Finally, choose friends who weaken your weakness. If your weakness is gossiping about your pastor, there are friends who will look at you with shock in their face when you share something. Keep those friends. There are friends who will join in and nurture your weakness and grow it – they are not friends, and I recommend ditching them.
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