05/29/2026
This speaks powerfully regarding character...
PAUL’S PROGRESSIVE HUMILITY
Most people think humility happens at the start of your faith journey, but Apostle Paul’s humility got deeper over time.
Mid-ministry (1 Cor 15:9), he called himself the “least of the apostles.”
Later (Eph 3:8), he said he was “less than the least of all saints.”
By the end of his life (1 Tim 1:15), he declared himself the “chief of sinners.”
This shows that true humility grows with intimacy with God—the more grace you experience, the more you see your own unworthiness. Spiritual maturity means deeper humility, not pride. Grace doesn’t lead to self-exaltation; it leads to humility. As John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
If after years of following Christ you’re more proud than when you started, that’s not spiritual maturity—that’s the opposite of Paul’s pattern.
True growth in grace produces deeper humility. As Paul said, “By the grace of God I am what I am.”
