Thursday, January 8, 2009

Paul - An Inspiration

One of my favorite people in the Bible is Paul. The reason I like him is because he was simply who he was, and no matter what happened he kept preaching about God. Apparently, though, he wasn't much of a speaker. In Acts, it mentions a man who had fallen asleep while Paul was speaking and ended up falling out of a window. He might have fallen asleep out of boredom. Paul was known to be long-winded. I was told by a theology teacher that the reason Paul wrote so many letters was to clear up the confusion he left when speaking to the people. Speaking of letters, I find his writing interesting also. A whole paragraph may be one sentence.

Paul certainly wasn't perfect, which is why I like him and can relate to him. Despite his shortcomings, Paul used the gifts he was given and persevered. There's no question that people didn't like him or his message. His life was in danger many times. However, Paul seemed to have never lost sight of his mission - to spread the Word of God and to teach others about Jesus. Paul is an example to me to be who I am, to accept my gifts and limitations, and to persevere regardless of what others may think, say, or do.

I pray that I may be like St. Paul - staying focused on the power and grace of God working through me. As Paul says in The Letter to the Phillipians, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." May I rely on this strength and not my own. May I persevere come what may. May we all learn from St. Paul.

St. Paul, pray for us.

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