Titus 3:1-7
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
In verse 3 Paul states that we "were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures". I can relate to this; in fact the temptation is to replace "we were once" with "we continue to be". For the foolishness and temptations do not easily disappear. It is interesting to look at the adjectives used here to describe what happens when we are focused on "various passions and pleasures": "foolish" meaning that we lose wisdom and intelligence, "disobedient" meaning that we rebel against the clear commands of scripture, "led astray" meaning that we are tricked and do not receive the reward that we think we will get, and "slaves", for we lose our freedom to choose rightly. This is a terrible but true list of consequences for our sin. For what appears to be pleasure ends up bringing pain (part of the deception). But the good news comes in verse 4 and following, "when the goodness and loving kindness of God our savior appeared" (verse 4), for "he saved us... according to his own mercy" (verse 5).
God, I have been led astray and became a foolish slave. Thank you for your great undeserved mercy, and help me to "be obedient" (verse 1) to You.
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
In verse 3 Paul states that we "were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures". I can relate to this; in fact the temptation is to replace "we were once" with "we continue to be". For the foolishness and temptations do not easily disappear. It is interesting to look at the adjectives used here to describe what happens when we are focused on "various passions and pleasures": "foolish" meaning that we lose wisdom and intelligence, "disobedient" meaning that we rebel against the clear commands of scripture, "led astray" meaning that we are tricked and do not receive the reward that we think we will get, and "slaves", for we lose our freedom to choose rightly. This is a terrible but true list of consequences for our sin. For what appears to be pleasure ends up bringing pain (part of the deception). But the good news comes in verse 4 and following, "when the goodness and loving kindness of God our savior appeared" (verse 4), for "he saved us... according to his own mercy" (verse 5).
God, I have been led astray and became a foolish slave. Thank you for your great undeserved mercy, and help me to "be obedient" (verse 1) to You.