Advanced Level, Block 10—Continuation and Increase
Week 93
Saul—Realizing He was Wrong
Point to Emphasize: Do you admit to yourself when you have been wrong?
Reference Reading: Acts 9:1-9; 26:9-11
Memory Verse: He who covers his transgressions will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)
Sample Story
Tell me, by raising your hand, how many of you like to be right? Of course, I think we all like to be right. Raise your hand if you like to be wrong. So, none of us like to be wrong. But sometimes, no matter how hard we want to be right, we are wrong. The question is, what do you do when you realize that you are wrong? Are you too proud to admit it? Too proud to change? Or, when you realize you are wrong, do you accept it and make the necessary changes to correct it?
Today we want to talk about a story from Acts 9 in the Bible. The story is about Saul (who was later named Paul) and how he felt he was so right about something. But one day he realized he was wrong. What do you think he did when he realized that he was wrong? Before we answer that question, let me tell you a little about this man Saul.
Saul was brought up to be the best that a Jew could be; being trained in all the religious aspects of the Jewish religion under the tutorage of the top teacher, Gamaliel. He was zealous for God. (Zealous means to spend all your energy on something you believe in very strongly.) At that time, Jesus was already crucified and resurrected. There were people who believed in Him. These believers were called Christians. Saul hated these Christians because they no longer kept the Jewish religion. So, he began to actively persecute them because they had believed in Jesus and left the Jewish religion. Saul was there when Stephen was stoned to death for being a Christian. He approved of putting Stephen to death for being a believer of Jesus. Saul thought that he was serving God by destroying Christians. Saul was devastating the church, entering house after house, dragging off men and women, and then delivering them to prison.
At one point Saul decided to go to Damascus to destroy all the believers who were calling on the name of Jesus. On his way to Damascus, he had a life-changing realization. Acts 9:3-5 says, “And as he went, he drew near to Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. And he fell on the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? And he said, Who are You, Lord?” While lying on the ground Saul realized he was wrong. He had been so wrong in his zealousness of persecuting the Christians. All this time he thought he was right, he was doing the right thing to persecute Christians. Now he realized deeply that he had been wrong. He probably spent the next three days praying over this. I believe he must have considered every wrong he had done to the believers and prayed to God about this.
Now, let me give you my example of a time when I realized I was wrong. When I was in the fifth grade, I had a teacher named Mrs. Rowe. I didn’t like her. She was old, not very friendly, and always kept a Kleenex tucked in her blouse and she would pull it out and make the children with runny noses blow their noses with her Kleenex. YUCK! So I would go to the playground and join other kids in making fun of her. It was not a very nice thing to do. I think she knew we were doing it but never said anything about it. I was very shy during those years and recess was hard for me because I didn’t know how to make friends. I preferred to stay inside and draw. Mrs. Rowe noticed this, and one day she asked me if I would stay in the room during recess and lunch and design the classroom bulletin board. I was thrilled to be able to do this. I didn’t have to be on the playground, and I was able to do what I liked best – draw. I realized that Mrs. Rowe was trying to make school easier for me. I’m sorry to say that I didn’t admit to her that I was wrong to have made fun of her. But I did confess to the other children that she was really a nice person. But none of the other children realized they were wrong. They never knew what a nice person Mrs. Rowe really was. When she retired at the end of the year, I walked to her house with a gift for her and stayed for a very nice visit. I hoped that she realized that it was my way of telling her I had been wrong. [Storyteller, use your personal experience of admitting you were wrong.]
Saul realized he had been wrong. This changed his ways. I realized I was wrong and Mrs. Rowe was really a nice person. We are wrong so many times. We often have a wrong view of our parents (too many rules). We have a wrong view of our teachers (too strict). And we have a wrong view of the people around us (having a better life than us). But most of the time we are the ones who are wrong, not them. We are wrong most of the time, but do we realize it? And does that realization change us?