The life story of the Apostle Paul touches my heart every time I read it. Here was a man who hated Christians and tried to destroy the church. Yet God changed him into one of the greatest missionaries who ever lived.
Paul’s journey shows us that God can use anyone for His glory, no matter what they have done before.
We can learn so much from Paul’s life. He faced beatings, prison, shipwrecks, and rejection.
People threw stones at him and left him for dead. But Paul never gave up on his calling to spread the gospel. His letters still guide us and encourage us when we face hard times.
Let me share four lessons from Paul’s life that can help us grow stronger in our walk with Jesus.
1. God Can Change Anyone’s Heart
Paul was formerly known as Saul of Tarsus. He hated Christians and worked hard to destroy the early church.
Acts 8:3 tells us, “As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.”
Saul was there when angry people stoned Stephen to death. Stephen was one of the first deacons chosen by the apostles to help serve the early Christian community. He was a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit who performed great wonders and signs among the people.
When Stephen preached about Jesus, religious leaders became angry and had him killed by stoning. Saul approved of killing this innocent man who loved Jesus.
Saul seemed like the last person who would ever become a Christian. But God had different plans.
On the road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to Saul in a bright light. The light was so bright it made Saul blind. Jesus asked him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” When Saul asked who was speaking, Jesus said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”
This meeting changed everything. The man who hunted Christians became their greatest champion. God took Saul’s passion and used it to spread the gospel.
This gives us hope for everyone we know who seems far from God. We should never stop praying for our family members and friends who don’t know Jesus.
If God could change Saul into Paul, He can change anyone. No heart is too hard for God to soften.
Paul never forgot his past. He called himself “the chief of sinners” in 1 Timothy 1:15. His honesty about his mistakes made his ministry more powerful.
People could see that if God could forgive Paul, He could forgive them too.
2. Hard Times Can Make Our Faith Stronger
Following Jesus did not protect Paul from suffering. He actually faced more trouble after he became a Christian. But these hard times made his faith stronger, not weaker.
Paul lists his sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11. He was beaten with rods three times. People threw stones at him. He was shipwrecked three times. He spent a night and day floating in the ocean. He faced robbers, angry crowds, hunger, cold, and sleepless nights.
Despite all this pain, Paul never became bitter. He learned to find joy even during trials.
In Philippians 4:11-12, he writes, “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.”
Paul asked God to remove a problem he called his “thorn in the flesh.” But God told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” in 2 Corinthians 12:9.
When we face difficulties, we can remember Paul’s example. God has not abandoned us during our struggles. He uses our trials to make us stronger and help us depend on Him more.
Our hard times can encourage others who are going through similar troubles.
3. We Must Never Give Up on Our Calling
Paul’s determination inspires me. He faced rejection and constant opposition, but he never quit. He knew God had called him to preach the gospel to people who were not Jews.
Nothing could stop him from doing what God asked.
Paul says in Acts 20:24, “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
Paul started churches all over the Roman Empire. When people threw him out of one city, he went to the next.
When they put him in prison, he wrote letters that still help us. When his ship crashed, he told the other passengers about Jesus.
Even when facing death in Rome, Paul stayed focused on his calling.
He wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.“
We can apply this lesson to whatever God has called us to do. Whether we are parents, teachers, or work in any job, we can serve God faithfully. When challenges come, we can remember Paul’s example and keep going.
4. Love Must Drive Everything We Do
Most importantly, Paul’s life shows us the power of love. His love for Jesus motivated everything he did. His love for people drove him to endure hardship to bring them the gospel.
Paul wrote the famous chapter about love in 1 Corinthians 13. He said, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
This was not just beautiful words to Paul. This was how he tried to live. When churches criticized him, he responded with patience. When false teachers led believers away from truth, he corrected them with love and concern.
Paul worked with his hands to support himself so he would not burden the churches. He delayed his own plans to help struggling believers. He even said in Romans 9:3 he would be willing to be separated from Christ if it would save his fellow Jews.
This love was not natural to Paul. Remember, he once hated Christians. But God’s love completely changed his heart. The same love that transformed Paul can change us too.
When we understand how much God loves us, we cannot help but love others. This love gives us patience with difficult people.
It motivates us to serve others even when it costs us something. It helps us forgive those who hurt us.
Paul the Apostle’s life shows us that God can use ordinary people to do extraordinary things when we surrender completely to Him.
