Patient Over Your Past
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Join a Discipleship Group1 Timothy 1:16
But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
The Apostle Paul was such a pivotal person in the development of our faith, that it is hard to imagine how the early church could have grown without such a committed but unlikely leader.
Paul, labeled himself THE foremost sinner that was saved by Christ and he had good reason for that claim. Even though he was educated in the most prestigious Hebrew schools and by the most renowned scholars, his blindness to the prophesies about the Messiah resulted in a hate-filled rage against Christians.
When the first martyr was being stoned to death, Paul was right there urging them on. Anti-Christianity became his identity. His campaign to hunt down believers from city to city led many men and women to imprisonment and to their death.
Where was God during his rant of terror?
Apparently, Paul says, He was patiently waiting. When he was was blinded by the light from heaven and he encountered Jesus, the Lord was not surprised by his sin. But he was not beyond the saving power of the Spirit of God.
From his “Damascus road” experience he went from a man filled with vehement hatred of Christ to a humble servant, completely surrendered to Him.
Others, like Timothy his student, grew up in their faith and came to make a mature decision to follow Christ in their adult years, but we all still have to marvel at the mercy of God.
He overlooks our faults, our blatant sin, our gross impurity, our willful ignoring of His standards and straying from Him only to patiently work in our lives, sometimes for years, to bring us to our knees before the same blood stained cross.
He has canceled your debt and displayed His patience in your life so that you can be an example to others, testifying of your faith and leading them to the Lord.
Never dismiss your past, your mistakes, your years of wandering, because, like Paul, God has a way of using it for His glory and the good of others when you humbly surrender yourself and let Him use you.