Galatians 1:22-24 – And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me.
When applying for a job, it’s in your best interests to highlight the good things you have done in the workforce and not draw attention to your failures like the time you screamed at your former boss before they fired you.
When creating your social media profile, we tend to not mention our irritable bowel syndrome as a distinct part of who we are.
When filling out a dating application, we search for just the right photo (which is never the one of us sitting on the couch eating nachos in our sweatpants) and find creative ways to explain ourselves like calling a stint in prison “an extended trip to an exotic place.”
Why?
We don’t want people to know we are bad, so we only talk about our good.
When it comes to Christians giving their testimony, we have to be honest, come clean, and let people know that Jesus Christ really did have to die to undo all we’ve done. Paul does just this in sharing his testimony. He says in Galatians 1:13-15, “I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it…so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But…he…called me by his grace…”
It is said that we are saved from Satan, sin, death, hell, and the wrath of God. This is true. But we are also saved from ourselves and once we are saved, others are saved from us as well. This Paul’s testimony, and true for each of God’s children.
How has God saved you from yourself, and saved others from who you would be apart from Christ?