"To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.
For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men."~Titus 3:2-8
For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men."~Titus 3:2-8
I first was convicted about "speak evil of no man"...this is a difficult command, yet God requires us to obey His Word. I sometimes try to justify my "speak(ing) evil of" some people, because what they are doing is so obviously wrong. Surely, there are no exceptions though.
The second thing that really hit me was from verses 3-6. For the first five years of my life, I was not forgiven of any of my sins. I'm not forgiven now because of anything good or great that I have done, but it's only by God's mercy~ "but according to His mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;" I definitely don't deserve to be saved from eternal separation from God in Hell, but I am. I couldn't get past this thought and read it over a few times.
I was then reminded in verse 8~"that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works". Am I maintaining good works?
Do the people God brings into my life, on a daily basis, know I'm a Christian, simply by my works?
This was a real challenge to me today and I hope some of it is making sense! :) It reminded me of the thoughts I've recently been throwing around in my mind which I mentioned in a previous post http://theforgivenwatters.blogspot.com/2011/04/accept-people-where-theyre-at-eh.html
2 comments:
you hit the nail right on the head Krys, thanks for sharing! hey can you send me your e-mail? My mbbc one still works btw. I gotta catch up with you :) ~Chrisi Brown
Hey Chrisi! I sent you a Skype message. :)
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