"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that He considered me faithful, appointing me to His service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life." 1 Timothy 1:12-16 (NIV)
Paul thought that he was the worst of the sinners. Given our sinful thoughts, in addition to our sinful acts, most of us could compete with Paul for that title. "The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked ..." Proverbs 15:26 I cannot even begin to count the number of sinful thoughts that I have each day, and I am sure that I am not alone.
God is blessing us abundantly in spite of our sinful nature. We are living examples and proof
of the fact that Christians are not blessed because we are perfect or sinless. It is because of our faith in Him that He uses us to be living examples of His Word in an effort to save the lost souls. None of us is so great a sinner that God cannot use us, we just have to believe and offer ourselves for His service. Hopefully, we can all repeat Paul's words here and know that they apply to our lives as well.
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