October 16
Jeremiah 24-26
Psalm 116:1-11
Proverbs 25:6-7
Titus 3
Different
“Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always be gentle toward everyone. At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated, and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. And I want to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.” Titus 3: 1-5, 8 NIV
Paul is reminding us that Christians should be different. Our interactions with people, our actions, what we say, our very countenance should be radically different from that of someone who does not know Jesus. Nothing about our lives should be the same as it was before we met Jesus. We are different because He is different, and He resides in us. He does not come into our lives to save us and then leave us as we were. That is not how it works. We come to Him as we are, but then He begins the process of transforming us into what He wants us to be. When people get married, they often have the idea that they are going to change their mate to be what they want them to be. That never works. I have advised many young people who are dating that if there are already things about the other person they can’t stand and want to change, they need to think long and hard about whether this is the right person. You should love them for who they are, all of who they are. It is unlikely you will be able to change them. That is not true for our relationship with Jesus. We go into it knowing that He is going to change us. He is a holy, righteous, perfect God and wants to transform us into the image of His Son. He comes to live in us and begins the sanctification process as soon as He enters our lives. It is part of the deal. It does not happen all at once, but He takes away our sinful desires and recreates a clean heart in us. When a spouse, parent or friend wants to change us, they are trying to make us into what they want us to be. It may or may not be what is truly best for us. But God created us. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and He knows what is truly best for us. He can shape us into the person that we are intended to be. We can trust Him.
Obedient, ready to do whatever is good, peaceable, considerate, and gentle towards everyone are not the words I would use to describe a lot of Christians I know. I can’t even say that those words describe me all the time. We somehow have the idea that we must fight for what we believe in. I agree with this, but it matters how we do it. We don’t get to be obnoxious and rude with people who disagree with us, even if they are wrong. We don’t get to call them names and say horrible things about them even if the things we want to say may be true. We don’t get to treat them like the enemy. Paul describes those things as foolish, disobedient and being enslaved by all kinds of passions and desires. Being hated and hating one another is never the way Jesus would want us to interact with others. Kindness and love should always be our goal.
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