Unstoppable! 'Distrusted' — Acts 9:26

Saul, whom we know better as the apostle Paul, had wreaked havoc on the church in Jerusalem and Judea before his Damascus road experience of Jesus. Believers in Damascus knew of Paul's preaching about Jesus and his commitment to Jesus as the Messiah. Believers in Jerusalem knew him only as a fierce persecutor. Can a leopard change its spots? Can a pursuer and persecutor of Jesus' disciples truly become a disciple? The believers in Jerusalem were cautious, even afraid of him. I think I would have been careful, too! We need to remember Saul's situation when people hold onto our past mistakes. Nearly every one of God's great leaders had moments where their faith life was less than stellar. God, however, doesn't discard people quickly or lightly. His searching love is not looking just to redeem lost sinners, but also to reclaim fallen servants. We must give our brothers and sisters with dark pasts the same grace. We recognize that this principle of grace is especially needed if the brother or sister with a dark past is us, so surely we need to extend the same grace to others! (Matthew 7:12)