Monday, October 21 -- Titus 2

Titus 2

Doing Good for the Sake of the Gospel

2 You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. ² Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

³ Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴ Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
⁶ Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.⁷ In everything set them an example by doing what is good.In your teaching show integrity, seriousness ⁸ and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
⁹ Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, ¹⁰ and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.
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ATTRACTIVE
   Often the first thing that draws us to someone has to do with how he or she looks.  Outer beauty and physical attraction have a way of making us want to get to know someone better.  And sometimes the outer beauty is combined with a great personality;  and other times we find that beauty is only skin deep.
   Paul encourages people from every age (and every walk of life) to live a life worthy of the Gospel -- that is, to be so consistent and honest in ones dealings with others, that onlookers want to know more about what we believe.
   It is, of course, unattractive when people see Christians acting with the same kind of greed, anger, and self-centeredness as the rest of the world.  But when God's people display integrity, compassion, generosity and love, then, sometimes, the world is attracted to its beauty and wants to know more.
    This is especially evident when we find ourselves in difficult situations or in the middle of injustice.  Letting our faith rise to the occasion rather than seeing ourselves as victims who deserve to give in to our passions, helps others to see what Christianity is like "when the rubber meets the road."
   This is, of course, a high calling, and cannot be accomplished without the power of the Savior "who has called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light."  And, there will, of course, be frequent need for His forgiving grace to pick us up when we fail.
   May God bless you as you seek to adorn the changeless Gospel with a life worthy of your calling.
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¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. ¹² It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³ while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
¹⁵ These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.