Sunday, April 9 Formerly I was a blasphemer and a persecutor.​—1 Tim. 1:13.

[Poly Ester]

Sunday, April 9

Formerly I was a blasphemer and a persecutor.—1 Tim. 1:13.

 

There must have been times when the apostle Paul was tormented by his past. He referred to himself as the “foremost” sinner, and no wonder! (1 Tim. 1:15) Before coming to a knowledge of the truth, Paul relentlessly pursued Christians in one city after another, putting some in prison and voting for the execution of others. (Acts 26:10, 11) Can you imagine how Paul would have felt on meeting a young Christian whose parents had been executed with his approval? Paul regretted his mistakes, but he knew he could not change the past. He accepted that Christ had died for him, and he confidently wrote: “By God’s undeserved kindness I am what I am.” (1 Cor. 15:3, 10) What is the lesson for us? Accept that Christ died for you and paved the way for you to enter into a warm, personal relationship with Jehovah. (Acts 3:19) What counts with God is what we do now and in the future, not the mistakes we made in the past.—Isa. 1:18. w21.04 23 ¶11

[Poly Ester]

It’s so easy to drag guilt about our past lives around with us, it’s like pulling a very large well packed suitcase wherever we go… but as todays text reassures us, Jehovah doesn’t want us to feel that way at all, instead he tells us that it’s what we do in the future that matters and not our past mistakes, because none of us are sin free.

 

 So park that suitcase, if we do that we’ll feel a whole lot lighter and able to give our complete worship to God.

 

 Paul is indeed a great example to learn from