It is always good for leaders to remember what they were and what they would be, apart from Christ’s work in their life. It might seem unsettling for the revered apostle Paul to be confessing such shortcomings to the young man he was discipling. Would not Timothy think less of Paul? After all, the godly young Timothy had never committed the heinous sins of his mentor. How could Timothy take Paul seriously when he knew what a terrible person he had been formerly?
Paul wanted Timothy to know God’s power to change people. Timothy had not grown up with a Christian father. He was timid. He apparently had a weak stomach. It might have been easy for Timothy to assume that he didn’t “have what it took” to become a mighty man of God. So Paul shared his own story. Rather than worrying about what people thought of him, Paul gloried in God’s marvelous grace.
Once we become leaders and people of influence, we can forget what we once were. We forget that, apart from the grace of God, our lives would be a disaster. Leaders need to remain humble, regardless of how much God uses them or elevates them. One of the greatest ways to maintain our humility is to always keep before us the profound difference God’s grace has made in our lives.