As a writer, I look for patterns. Repetition. Structure.
Shifts. The way an idea is introduced and then flipped. The way a negative is
followed by a positive. And when I read Paul’s letters, I started noticing
something that changed how I viewed his corrections.
Paul rarely told people “Do not…” without giving them
a “Do…” to replace it.
And that told me everything.
Paul was not just interested in behavior modification—he
was writing for transformation.
He was not about stopping just for the sake of stopping. He wanted believers to
walk away from the old so they could walk into the new.
That rhythm? That structure? It shows up in letter after
letter.
Let me give you my favorite example first:
Ephesians
4:29
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your
mouths…”
He could have stopped there. But he did not. He continued:
“…but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs,
that it may benefit those who listen.”
As a writer, I noticed the contrast. Paul was not just
canceling speech—he was redirecting it. He was saying: Do not tear
people down—but do build them up. That is more than morality. That is ministry.
And that pattern is everywhere.
Romans
13:13–14
“Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in
carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in
dissension and jealousy.”
And then comes the switch:
“Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think
about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”
Here, Paul does something powerful. He gives a list
of what not to do—but he does not leave us naked in the after. He tells us what
to put on. “Clothe yourselves” is action. It is daily. It is
intentional. And it is Spirit-led.
Colossians
3:8–10
“But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as
these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language…”
He follows it with:
“…and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the
image of its Creator.”
Paul was not just clearing out the junk. He was making space
for renewal. The negative had to go—but only so the new self could grow.
That is regeneration in literary form.
Romans
12:21
“Do not be overcome by evil…”
But Paul is never one to leave a void.
He says:
“…but overcome evil with good.”
He is showing us how to resist. Not with silence. Not with
passivity. But with action. He replaces defeat with victory—evil with
good.
Galatians
5:13
“Do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh…”
And then he gives us this instead:
“…rather, serve one another humbly in love.”
Freedom is not the absence of boundaries. It is the presence
of love in action. Paul knew that if you do not redirect freedom, it
becomes self-serving. But if you reframe it? It becomes service.
From a writer’s point of view, this rhythm is literary
craftsmanship. It gives clarity. It keeps the reader grounded. It also keeps
the believer empowered. Because correction without redirection leads to
frustration.
Paul did not just want us to stop sinning. He wanted us to start
living.
He understood something powerful:
When the old is removed, the new must be installed.
Otherwise, the void will get filled with the same old mess.
Reading Paul with this lens made me appreciate his pastoral
wisdom. He did not just write like a theologian—he wrote like a discipler. He
wrote to shape lives, not just correct behaviors.
Paul knew the danger of telling someone what not to
do without telling them what to do instead.
So he gave us both.
Again and again.
It is like he was saying: Yes, walk away from that… but
do not stop walking. Walk toward this instead.
That is why his letters are still changing lives.