ST PAUL: A MODEL OF SUCCESS

There is one thing that everybody wants to accomplish whether he is from the east, west, north or south; irrespective of his being short or tall; educated or illiterate. That is to succeed, to be regarded as a success in any endeavour he is in. And we look for role models for success. Sometimes we take up notorious men and women who are wealthy and regard them as our model. But if we go to the word of God we will find better models, biblical persons who were success in their lives. St. Paul is one of such individuals
.BACKGROUND: Paul was born in Tarsus (now in the south east of Turkey) to a Jewish family. He had a Jewish education(trained under Gamaliel in Jerusalem), a Jewish way of life and abided by the Law of Moses(Acts 22:1-3). But he was also at home in Greek culture, fluent in Greek or Roman cultural traditions. We are first introduced to Paul in the Bible in the Acts of the Apostles chapter 8:1 and we went to see Paul the missionary studiously working for God.
CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL: One of the most fascinating stories about Paul is his incredible conversion on the road to Damascus. Paul, in acts 22:6-16 gives a brief description of what happens after his experience on the Damascus road. He says that he didn’t go to Jerusalem immediately but that he went off to Arabia, probably to think, to reflect on what has had happened (Gal 1:15-16). The relevance of Paul’s conversion from being a persecutor of Jesus to a preacher of Jesus cannot be over estimated. Paul himself finds it difficult to describe what has happened and in a fascinating passage in one of his letters he explained this as a resurrection appearance of Jesus Christ (1 cor15:8-10). After his conversion, Paul went on to become one of the greatest missionary of the time, an apostle of the gentiles, a theologian and a prolific writer..
Having examined Paul’s life, let‘s see the factors that made him such a resounding success.
1. GOAL: For you to succeed, you have to set goals, know the type of success you want, how you plan to achieve it. You have to know where you are going and what you’ll have when you get there. Paul never veered off his goal, the goal of making Christ known to all nations and finally making heaven. That was his ultimate life goal and he worked steadily at it until he achieved. Planlessness is a big reason for the failure of most people. You need to have a clear-cut, precisely defined purpose. You cannot expect the best if you think aimlessly. No objective leads to no end. As Maxwell Maltz say “Unless a man is moving steadily towards an objective-a goal, he is going to falter and fall”
2. HARDWORK: Once you’ve set your goals, the next thing is to work hard to achieve it. As the saying goes Heaven helps those who help themselves. St Paul was a hardworking man. He was a tent-maker (acts18:3) and, he talks about how he combines his preaching of the gospel with working his hands(1 Cor 9).Unlike other early Christians missionaries, Paul earned his own living wherever he went. There is little doubt that Paul’s life changed the course of Christianity. He worked this hard because of his goal, to spread the gospel of Jesus to all people. Are you hoping to succeed without hard work, all successful are very productive.
3. DESIRE: Another word for this is passion. Paul was an extremely passionate Jew and made sure him and others faithful to the Law of Moses. He persecuted the Christians with passion. The transformation on the Damascus road didn’t change his passion. He just becomes passionate for a different cause. We can get some idea of Paul’s passion when we read the letter in Galatians. He was so furious about circumcision because he felt it compromise the very nature of Christians. At a stage towards the end of the letter, he grabs the pen from his secretary and he says “see what big letters I make as a I write to you now in my own hand”. For you to succeed in anything you have to be passionate about it. If you word hard and fail, your desire will help you to go up and try again and again till you succeed. ”In almost any undertaking”, says Professor William James,” your passion for the subject will save you. If you only care enough for a result, you will most certainly attain it”.
4. PRAYER: Noman Vincent Peale tells us that affirmative prayers release powers by which positive results are accomplished. Paul had a prayerful life. It was God’s grace that enabled him to endure all suffering and persecution associated with the gospel. He writes in one of his letter, long list of the things he endured. He writes about the number of times he’s been beaten, the number of times he’s been put to prison, the number of shipwrecks he’s endured and he seems proud of them(Gal6:17). He was physically quite weak but he always attributed his saving power to the grace of God or the power of God. Prayer is the greatest power we have in solving problems. If you are thinking of success without God in the picture, think again. “You can do more that pray after you’ve prayed but you cannot do more than pray until you’ve prayed” says A.J.Gordon. So commit to the Lord whatever you do and you r plans will suuceed.PrOV26:3