Today’s Reading: Titus 2,Psalms 4
Over the past several years, I have been able to listen and become more aware of God and the Holy Spirit in my life and my daily actions. When I received this passage to reflect on this week, the Holy Spirit allowed me to fully experience his message: I am with you.
The first week of August for my family is one that has a lot of emotional attachment. Three years ago, my family and I were celebrating my daughter, Ruby’s, baptism and the following day, August 4th, my wife’s grandfather passed away. Last year, my mother’s sister’s husband passed away on August 5th. And this past Friday, my sister’s father-in-law passed away. These were men that were the backbone and foundation of families that I am directly attached and bonded. It is hard to loose these men, but I gain some peace at the love and devotion that they lead by example. The combined years of marriage that they had were over one hundred years. The influence and wisdom that I received was truly impactful and have help to shape me as the man I am today.
As Paul writes to Titus about the right living in church and the role of the elder men and women play, I know that the Spirit is working in me to continue to live the examples that I have been expose.
Titus 2: 3-5: 3 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. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 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.
These men create ways to show me how to be 1.) Temperate 2.) Worthy of Respect 3.) Self-controlled 4.) Sound in Faith, Love, and Endurance. I learn a lot from these gentlemen as was instructed to Titus and Timothy. I know that each of the last times that I had with each of these men were filled with God’s grace and the knowledge and wisdom that I received allows me to take courage that God is with me and all that were a part of their lives.
As we read and pray through these scriptures, let us allow God to bring people to influence and encourage us to be the person that He can use to encourage others and show Christ’s love. Amen