The grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to
all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and
to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age (Titus
2:11,12).
Paul, in his letter to Titus (ministering in Crete), has
much to say to us about our Christian witness. Older men are encouraged to live
in such a way as to be worthy of respect, to model agape love, and steadfastness. Older women
are told to be reverent and to teach young women to respect their husbands,
love their children and be industrious in their duties at home. Young men are
taught to behave in a mature fashion. Slaves are taught to honor their masters,
and to be trustworthy.
These moderate, respectful and respectable behaviors are not
ends in themselves, but for a purpose – to make attractive their witness for
Christ. Paul goes on to say we don’t have to accomplish these behaviors in our
own strength. The same grace that saved us is at work in us to help us grow in obedience
and self-control. In fact, the phrase self-control is mentioned four times just in this chapter.
How many times have we seen those claiming to represent
Christ behaving anything but respectfully, respectably and self-controlled? And
how often has the cause of Christ been damaged as a result? People are
watching, and our witness makes a difference.
TODAY’S MEDITATION
How will you walk in
wholeness that the Christian life might be made attractive to your friends this
week?
No comments:
Post a Comment