Sin, Grace, New Life, a Reflection on 1 Timothy 1:12-17

As I read this passage this morning, I thought about the willingness to admit sins and the awareness and gratitude expressed for the ability to overcome them. 

When we pray, how much effort do we put into admitting our sins as compared to, say, asking for something?

Which is more obvious to us anyway, the sins of other people or our own?

Then I looked back at Psalm 14, "The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after Go. They have all gone astray...."

As part of the all who have gone astray, we can rest our hope on the assurance from this letter to Timothy that  "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."

And for the then what, we can keep reading, "But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe...."

Paul is grateful for being forgiven, and he is grateful because as a forgiven person, he can be a servant to Christ Jesus.

But we may not be able to exchange our habits or attitudes immediately. Jouette Bassler in her commentary on 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus points to verse 16 in which Paul says that after Christ gave him mercy, he then displayed the utmost patience. From grace to visible results may take a while.