Society tells us we must be bigger, better, faster and stronger to find success.
The fact that society exalts displays of strength is not something new to the twenty-first century. Paul dealt with these very things in Second Corinthians.
Corinth was a leading first-century city, steeped in the Greek worldview, a worldview that exalted all the externals, such as knowledge, physical strength, wealth, and eloquence. According to these standards, Paul fell woefully short.
Paul, according to many biblical scholars, was a short, balding, annoying sort of fellow, and may have had stomach issues and bad eyesight (these are some of the options for the thorn in the flesh in 2 Cor. 12:7). He was not a skilled speaker and bore on his body the marks of many shipwrecks and beatings.
