Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

It has been pointed out that the older the Apostle Paul got, the lower his self-esteem became. If you arrange his letters in chronological order, you see him moving from considering himself “the least of the apostles,” (1 Corinthians 15:9) via “less than the least of all saints,” (Ephesians 3:8), to “the chief of sinners,” (1 Timothy 1:15). In Romans 7:24, he cries out, “O wretched man that I am!”

But Paul, why so negative? Do you really have to deprecate yourself like that? Can’t you be a bit more uplifting? You have plenty to be proud of, after all! It can’t be wrong to pat yourself on the shoulder every now and then, right?

Well, no. Paul would have very little patience with today’s self-help gurus, including those in Christian circles who apply a thin biblical veneer to their peptalk. All those efforts to pump up your self-esteem are vain, Paul makes clear. Instead, he points in a completely different direction, away from himself.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul argues about righteousness in Christ only. His readers, the Galatian believers, tend to rely on justification by the works of the law, but Paul dismantles their self-righteousness. The first chapter overflows with Christ (mentioned seven times) and the Gospel or Good News (mentioned five times).

What is that Good News? Paul sums it up in today’s verses: the atoning work of Christ. He starts his letter with that, and it sets the tone for everything that follows. Christ gave Himself for our sins, to deliver us from evil, according to God’s will. Instead of helping themselves, the Galatians—and we with them!—should rely solely on Christ.

Paul’s entire ministry focused on Christ and His work at Calvary’s cross. As he learned more about his Savior, the apostle thought less and less of himself. Paul wasn’t indulging in self-torment. He was living out the truth found in John 3:30: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

In this time of Lent, let us stop trying to help ourselves. Let us rather focus on Christ and surrender all that bothers and burdens us to Him. Let us acknowledge with Paul, “Yes, I am the worst of all sinners, but I have the best possible Savior, my Lord Jesus Christ!”

That is the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen!

By Anton de Vreugd, Bible League International staff, the Netherlands