I discovered another hidden gem this morning! In the scripture I will share, Paul states that he cared little what man thought of him, and he dared not even give thought to what he felt about himself!
He cared only about what the Lord thought!
1 Corinthians 4:3-4 NLT: “As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide.”
A little history here: Paul had a reputation to outlive! Before Paul had his eye-opening Jesus experience on his way to Damascus one day, Paul persecuted and killed prophets of “The Way,” which is what they called what Jesus preached!
John 14:6 NLT: “Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
We come back to Paul and his about-face, his change of spirit, and his boldness in preaching that which he had vehemently opposed! I can imagine within the disciples and followers a few eyebrows being raised in question, and his validity met with skepticism.
Whispers were behind his back because, remember, Paul came with a prior reputation!
Do you have a prior reputation? Do you know someone who has or had a previous reputation? Do you pass judgment on others, and worse, do you pass judgment on yourself?
Do you listen to the words others say about you, or do you focus on what Jesus says about you?
Ephesians 2:10 ESV: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
1 Peter 2:9 ESV: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
1 Corinthians 5:17 ESV: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”
2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
And there it is in a nutshell! The old has passed away, and the new has come!
Let’s try and be more like Paul! We don’t need to explain our walk! We don’t have to make excuses for who we once were but aren’t any more! We don’t need to pass judgment!
We need to remember we all serve the same God and within each individual path we walk, our destination is the same! ☺️
Sunshine On My Shoulder 