My Religion class at BYU this semester has been about the latter-half of the New Testament, most of which consists of the writings of Paul. I wrote a reflection paper for class about an attribute that Paul teaches of and thought I'd share what I wrote. Enjoy :)
Recently I have been amazed at not only the words of Paul but also the depth of his character. Paul is a man who I have always known about but never known. This semester has introduced me to him. I have seen him not only as a stalwart convert but as a real champion for the gospel, one who not only endured to the end but helped countless others
do the same. I have found myself asking, “how did Paul do it?” – no, the deeper question I’ve asked is, “WHY did Paul do it?” He could have found the true gospel and simply basked in its goodness. He could have been a missionary just around Judea and lived a comfortable life. But instead, he journeyed further than any other Christian and led the newly founded missionary effort to the Gentiles. Why did he do it? The simple answer is that God told Him to. But what part of Paul’s character gave him the motivation to go on?
I doubt there’s any one attribute that takes the cake here. But what I have found in my pondering is that Paul had an abundance of one specific characteristic:
gratitude.
Paul was exceptional at having and expressing gratitude. I believe that Paul’s conversion and true repentance led to an abounding thankfulness for the Lord Jesus Christ and for His children. I reckon that this gratitude is what carried him through his difficult missions and unfair treatment in prison.
Look here at how Paul never ceased to thank his God, even during times of great trial. My favorite instances of this occur in his epistle to the Corinthians, where he says, “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ” (2 Cor. 2:14), and also in
Romans, where he concludes his dramatic, personal psalm with the words, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 7:24-25). I love that, despite his distress and acknowledgement of his own weakness and mortality, he chooses to THANK Christ for the experience and for His grace. While many of us choose to blame God for our problems, Paul chooses to thank Him.
On November 1st, I began what we call a “21-day happiness challenge” as part of my BYU Online TA training. We all read a book about positive psychology, “The Happiness Advantage” by Shawn Achor, and challenged ourselves to do 5 things every day for 21 days. One of those 5 things is to write down 3 things we are grateful for, whether from the day or just in general. I noticed that when I began, I wrote simple things like “food” or “my fiancé”. But now, 2 weeks into the challenge, I am writing full length sentences that sometimes stem two lines, like “I am grateful for the opportunity to watch Sunday Night Football with my Dad
and for the way it makes me feel”. Then, I find myself consciously thinking about how great that experience was, so that the next time I watch football with my Dad, I enjoy it so much more. I am beginning to learn a lesson that Paul seemed to have learned and applied in his ministry: when we have gratitude for other people, our relationship with them increases, and our experiences with them are so much sweeter.
I am especially impressed at how Paul talks of gratitude even while “rotting away” in prison. As Paul gets older and approaches his impending doom, he fights the carnal tendency to become cranky and frustrated and chooses instead to show even more gratitude; I felt that Paul’s prison epistles were ripe with joyful thanksgiving, such as Paul’s beautiful letter to the Philippians and his loving encouragement in 2 Timothy. Gratitude for Christ and for others gradually changed Paul from a good missionary to a great one. It was perhaps the most important ingredient in Paul’s own journey of becoming a true champion of Christ.
I have examined Paul’s person and wondered how I can be like him. This happiness challenge that I’m a part of has opened my eyes to the idea of gratitude and helped me to see that works such as prayer and service accomplish little when not accompanied with gratitude. I know that I can appreciate life more. And what better time to appreciate life more than when it gets hectic – the year 2020 has certainly provided that! I have had moments when I sit back in frustration. I scold the world for not getting better, others for getting on my nerve, and myself for not being as good as I could be. But Paul has taught me to stand back, have a bit more patience with myself and others, and be GRATEFUL. I can give thanks to God who causes me to triumph in Christ. I can have gratitude for my trials and “thorn(s) in the flesh” because they make me a stronger person. And I can be overwhelmingly grateful for others, for they choose to be patient with me even while they themselves are suffering more than I know. In short, I can be a little more like Paul, who fought and finished the fight with gratitude in his heart.
I am confident that this is why Paul did what he did; this is why he went above and beyond, even when life didn’t go the way he had hoped.
All because he was grateful.
If Paul can choose gratitude and find joy because of it, then certainly I can too.
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