Paul's Words of Truth and Comfort

Read: 1 Timothy 1:12-17

We all probably know her. Perhaps, we have actually been her. I'm using the example of a woman here, but men can carry around this same heavy load. Any of us can deal with this same struggle. Guilt and shame. They can nibble at our minds and cause our hearts to be heavy. For those of us who belong to Jesus and have therefore become His new creations, 2 Corinthians 5:17, we have been wondrously and miraculously cleansed from every sin, Micah 7:18-19; Psalm 103:12, and before the Holy God, we have been declared to be free from condemnation, Romans 8:1.

So why can the ominous cloud of guilt and shame sometimes hover over us, desiring to snuff out our joy? Why do we sometimes beat ourselves up or receive the jabs from the evil one who hates both the Lord and His people? For one thing, as sweet as forgiveness is, it does not erase the remembrances of our wrongs, and we well know that some sins that we have committed have brought pain into the lives of people we love. Oh, how we wish we could undo every wrong and make it right. It is likely that there isn't anyone who isn't in that same boat. There is something encouraging about wanting to make right what has been done wrong. It shows a tenderness of heart. It shows we care even if we are powerless to change things, and though we can't fix all that is broken, God's power to bring His redemption into loved ones lives is possible. Surely a good prayer to pray right at the start. Let's stop and do that.

Lord, where sinful choices have caused pain, will You pour out Your favor and power. We don't know what will help, but You do. We might or might not be a part of Your answer. You know best. When remembrance of wrong doing tries to steal our joy, remind us that You are at work where there has been injury.

Okay, let's look at a case study right from scripture. Paul, the author of so many books in the New Testament, but wait. He didn't always love and honor Jesus. In fact, he opposed the Savior at every turn before Jesus made Himself known to him. We know from Acts 9 and other places within the scriptures that Paul who was earlier called by the name Saul, used violence against believers. He hurt them physically and watched over the garments of those who stoned Steven to death. I wonder. How many families did Paul disrupt? How many loved ones wept over Steven's death? No doubt, many people were hurt by his actions. Guilt and shame could have caused the apostle to hide away in shame because of his sinful and evil actions, but God!

Oh, the joy we see in Paul's words in 1 Timothy 1. The grace of God surely covered over the guilt and shame of Paul's past. He used himself as Exhibit A concerning God's grace. Calling himself the chief of sinners. Not in a way of not being able to hold his head up, but instead, this honest assessment of the way he had lived actually magnified the grace of God. Surely those who were alive when the apostle was rampaging against Jesus, knew of his transgressions. They might have lived in fear of him wondering if they would be his next victims. No wonder Paul was so overwhelmed by God's grace. we can almost hear him say that since God had poured out His forgiveness into his life, it would be possible for anyone else to be saved. Paul put the light on his sins so that the covering of grace could be seen.

What a picture Paul's life is of Isaiah 61:10:

“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;

my soul shall exult in my God,

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

Paul's knowledge of the truth about God's grace resulted in a fruitfulness that might have been diminished if guilt and shame had won the day. If the evil one tells us that we should cower under the weight of guilt and shame, we have truth to counter his lies.

Because of Jesus, we are grace dispensers. People who have been flooded with God's grace, and we are the temples of His Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; therefore, we are equipped to hold out His grace to others.