Have you ever wondered how the Apostle Paul had such an effective ministry with so many during his lifetime? He gives his testimony about this in the Scriptures. It began with a genuine burden for lost souls. Paul tells us βThat I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethrenβ¦β (Rom. 9:2,3). Lost souls seem to be able to sense when one deeply cares for their spiritual welfare. Paul was ready to share the eternal life-giving gospel βin season, out of seasonβ (2 Tim. 4:2). No matter where he was, from prison to the palace, he was constantly giving out the message of salvation by grace alone. He sowed the seed of the gospel frequently enough that many were saved.
Paul said, βI made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the moreβ (1 Cor. 9:19). His attitude was one of surrendering as a willing bond slave to the Savior; then, he served others, in a spiritual sense, willingly and humbly attending to their needs. Paul approached the lost in a personable way, finding common ground with the lost so heβd have greater credibility when presenting the gospel. He says: ββ¦unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jewsβ¦To them that are without law, as without lawβ¦I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save someβ¦β (1 Cor. 9:20-22). Paul was also tireless, working βnight and dayβ (Acts 20:31; 1 Thes. 2:9), in his care and prayer for those he led to Christ.
If youβd like to be more greatly used of the Lord, follow this pattern used by the Apostle Paul. source
[β¦] a calling! Paul, as an instructed βmasterbuilder,β has given us the plans and specifications in his epistles. We should be intelligent workmen; workmen whom God can approve, who will not need to be ashamed [β¦]
[β¦] and believers in Christ are reconciled to God in one body by the cross (Eph. 2:16). Little wonder Paul calls his message βthe preaching of the [β¦]
[β¦] it was possible that Paulβs labor for the Lord might have been in vain, how could he tell the Corinthians thatΒ theirΒ labor couldΒ notΒ be? How [β¦]
[β¦] even this is not all, for looking far ahead to the future the Apostle Paul, by divine revelation, goes on to say (in Eph. 2:7) that God has done this all for us, βthat in [β¦]
[β¦] is not so. God has made abundant provision for every child of God to grow to spiritual manhood, and Paul rebukes the Corinthian believers for not having [β¦]