God's Gifts to His Chosen Bride, Part 4

Titus 2:1-8 presents a balanced, simple and healthy picture of how Christians are to relate to one another. A healthy church will have older men mentoring younger men & older women mentoring younger women by virtue of people doing what God calls them to do. It will be evident in the households of its members. Healthy teaching taken to heart and internalized leads to healthy lives.

Some Daily Implications
1. A vicious or a victorious cycle? 2 Pet. 1:3-13; James 4:1-12) Titus 2 is a picture of genuine Christianity – real v. fake, normal v. abnormal. This is the ideal but many do not experience it. The primary question you should be asking is not why do other people do what they do but am I who God wants me to be? Are you the person God calls you to be? You can pray, teach, urge, but only God can change others. The answer no matter what, is to humble yourself broken before God. For salvation, getting right with God initially – or sanctification, growing in Christ. Gal. 5: 16-26 Walk by the Spirit. When men humble their hearts their wives hearts soften towards them. Like an azalea tree that looks dead but if you water it it will come back, respect can grow back. Who you are (what you choose to think, say and do) is significant and does make a difference. Every idle word.

2. Mindset matters…the key is ETC. take Every Thought Captive to obey Christ. 2 Cor. 10:5. God’s Word is like a governor – won’t let you go too slow or fast. You are going through your day and are tempted to go against what you know God says…obey Jesus. Every Christian is to exercise self-control in word and deed. Amazing what changes come about when you make God’s calling on your life non-negotiable. To apply Titus 2 takes desire to be godly person. It is a manual for church life, you need to want to be the kind of person described here. God’s Word is our authority when it comes to belief and practice as believers, it applies to every culture and age and speaks to and transforms every culture in which it is applied.

Ultimately we do not live for ourselves, or other people, but For the King and His kingdom. Therefore, Fulfill God’s call in your life so others will see the value of knowing Jesus. Titus 2:5 "so that the Word of God may not be blasphemed"; it will be if men and women do not fulfill their roles. Do not give the opponent an occasion to slander the faith. The purpose of godly conduct is to bring glory to God – to not stain God’s reputation in the world. People want to see something redeeming in the lives of the redeemed. So the opponent has nothing bad to say about us. Godly living silences the attacks of ungodly people bent on finding something to accuse Christians of. In Bible times Christians were thought too lenient because the gospel freed women and children from tyranny; our culture sees Christianity as too limiting because it is seen as a limit to personal growth and potential because it constrains our freedom to choose our own beliefs and practices. Immanuel Kant defined enlightened people as those who trust in their own power rather than the authority of another. This is the underlying assumption in our society today. The world says do whatever you want, whenever you want with whomever you want – seems like the ultimate freedom – but it is the most tragic slavery. Christ-centered self-discipline is liberating confinement. Our will subject to His.

The popular idea that each person can and should define their own moral code of right and wrong is based on a belief that there is no objective standard of truth. There is, God's Word, exists independent of us and must be held to regardless of what we think or feel; and ought to shape our lives as believers. Christ’s love brings the ultimate freedom to be and do what we were meant to be and do in Christ. The love of Christ constrains us. Christ’s love is the most liberating freedom-loss of all. 2:11-14. Show them a different kind of life lived in light of God. Matt. 5:16; 1 Pet. 1:29. By His Spirit show others the worth of knowing Jesus by the example of your changed life.