1 Timothy 12-15 -12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
Timothy was an evangelist that from a young age put his whole heart into chasing after God and sharing the good news of the gospel with other people. It is likely that he came in contact with Paul during Paul’s first missionary journey. In Paul’s letter to Timothy he urges the young evangelist to fully embrace the doctrine of grace giving full credit to God for any good work he has done.
Grace is something that many of us have a difficult time applying to other people. Too often we have a mindset of revenge and punishment. Someone cuts you off in traffic and our reaction might be, “That person is driving like a maniac, I hope their car explodes!” However, we could be far more forgiving if we knew the whole story: maybe their wife is in labor, maybe their kid got hurt, or maybe they just really need to go to the bathroom.
We pass by so many strangers every day on the road, in a store, at work and we will most likely never get to hear their whole story. And that’s when we need to turn our accusing eyes back onto our own lives. We have all sinned in one way or another. And we are saved and forgiven because our Lord and savior overflows with faith and love.
Ask yourself who you need to forgive. Ask yourself what you can release because you know how much you have been forgiven. We all have had times that we have acted ignorantly, and we have all experienced grace beyond measure that we have not deserved. Forgiveness allows you lay down a burden you were never meant to carry in the first place
Lord have mercy on me a sinner / The biggest sinner of them all / Lord have mercy on me a sinner / A sinner since the day that I was born