Actress Candace Cameron Bure and podcaster Tara-Leigh Cobble recently pushed back against certain popular Christian phrases that misinterpret the Bible.
Cobble, who co-hosted season one of the Candace Cameron Bure Podcast, addressed the often-used Christian saying, “God’s never going to give you more than you can handle.”
The phrase is derived from 1 Corinthians 10:13, which discusses how God will help us through moments of temptation.
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (ESV)
According to The Christian Post, Cobble noted that the phrase can be discouraging to Christians because it makes them feel like they have to handle their challenges without seeking help from fellow believers.
“A lot of things sound really good when you see them on social media,” Cobble, who hosts her own podcast, The Bible Recap, explained. “These one-liners, like ‘God’s never going to give you more than you can handle.’ No, that is not the Bible! He does give you more than you can handle because other people can shoulder it [with] you.”
“He can come along and equip and sustain you through that process. And so, those kinds of platitudes that make us feel really empowered, a lot of times are not accurate,” she added.
“[Statements like that] are not biblically true. And that leads to a lot of despair when you feel like, ‘Oh, man, I didn’t have enough faith to pull that off for you. … I guess I’m not strong enough.’ And so those things we have to measure them against Scripture,” Cobble concluded.
Bure then stressed the importance of being in God’s Word to cultivate discernment.
“God tells us to ‘put on kindness, gentleness, compassion, humility and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against one another, just as the Lord has forgiven you. You are also forgiven. And above all, put on love which is the perfect bond of unity,'” said Bure, referencing Colossians 3.
“I put on my clothes every morning. I put on my makeup. I put on my lipstick. I put on my shoes to walk out my door. But the first thing I need to put on is kindness, put on compassion, put on humility and gentleness and patience,” she said.
“And those are things I need to be aware of. It’s not easy. It’s a choice that you make, and it’s a choice that you practice. And you practice something enough that it becomes a habit,” Bure concluded.
Cobble then contended that without the power of the Holy Spirit, then having the fruit of the Spirit would be impossible.
“[The fruit of the Spirit] is going to come from Him. He initiates it in us and moves us through that process with other believers. … We have access to put those things on through the power of the Spirit and work within us,” Cobble explained.
“It’s like every day you’re choosing to surrender to the Spirit’s work in you. You’re choosing to die to self, to be kind to others who maybe are unkind to you. And it’s the Spirit who enables us to do that. He’s the one at work in us to do all these beautiful things.”
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Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for Christian Headlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.