The worst of them

“I can’t believe what those people are doing.”

Let’s admit it. We’ve all had that thought. Usually “those” is related to people different than us. For the Christian we think this of the non-Christian. We act shocked and offended when non-Christians act like, well, non-Christians.

Why do we do this? Pride. Pure and simple. Like the Pharisee we pray, “God, thank you that I’m not like that man, a sinner!”

Paul had a different view, though. He lived and died for the truth that Jesus came to save sinners. Paul wanted to rush out to everyone who would listen with the message: “Trust in Jesus, turn from your sin, find forever life and joy!” But Paul didn’t do this with the attitude that he was somehow better than others.

No, he knew, that without Jesus he was a sinner, and even still he considered himself “the worst of them.” Humility drove him to not look down upon anyone else but to see everyone as a potential brother or sister in Christ. He would share the gospel and maybe tell his life story. And in those words, he hoped they would learn the truth…

This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”–and I am the worst of them.

1 Timothy 1:15

This post is part of a devotional series based on our 2020 Bible Reading Calendar. All Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible.

Image source: Photo by Ryoji Iwata on Unsplash