Daily Verse: Titus 2:1-5

You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. 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. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 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.

 

As Christians, we are under a microscope in this world. People are looking for ways to call us out for our behavior that appears to be misaligned with our professed faith. And at times, we make it pretty easy for folks to develop a long list of how we aren’t “walking the walk”. In the text above, Paul writes a letter on how Titus is to teach and lead the people in his town. He lists several attributes that the people are to adopt…they are to be under control, solid in their faith, loving, careful with their words, and kind. But what it all boils down to is this: Avoid living in a way that damages the word of God. The text above uses the word “Malign”. “Malign” means damaging, destructive, injurious, harmful, or hurtful. When we live sinful lives, we are bringing negative attention to the Gospel. People view us as “Christians”, witness our sinful behavior, and begin to discount this “Gospel” that we are claiming as the way, the truth, and the light. Or perhaps they start to believe that sinful living is actually appropriate under this thing we call the “Gospel”. Now don’t get me wrong here…the Gospel does not NEED us to continue forward. The Holy Spirit is not dependent on our good behavior to sustain itself. God has been doing his mighty work since the beginning of creation, long before we were even and idea in this world. But I believe that it does please the Lord when we live our lives righteously. I believe it does bring a smile to his face when he sees us sharing his love with another. I do believe that it pleases the Lord when he witnesses us speaking kind words, embracing self-control, and choosing to step away from sin. If we genuinely and passionately love our God, as we so profess, then the last thing we should want to do is damage his message to the world. The last thing we should want to do is step on this wonderful message we call the Gospel. We have the opportunity be representatives of the Gospel each day, pointing others to this incredible man we call Savior…Jesus…Messiah. May we embrace this privilege each day with discipline, enthusiasm, and courage! To God be the glory!