For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus 2:11-15 I really like this passage. It has so much "meat" in it! I am so glad that God has given us grace which brings salvation, not just for you and me but for everybody! But I really like the way this passage says what comes next. We don't just recieve God's grace and say "Thank- you very much" but rather it prompts us to do something.
God's grace in our lives will cause us to say "No!" to ungodliness. If we let it, it will train our minds so that we don't have any interest in ungodly living. Wordly passions/desires will be treated the same way. That is not what is important anymore.
Instead we will live in a way that is self-controlled, upright and godly. Maybe a little easier said than done, but through God's grace we will learn.
I have been thinking about self-control a lot lately. Currently I am doing a cleanse in which I am not to eat any form (no honey or maple syrup either) of sugar and pretty much no carbs. To be very honest this is not easy for me. I defenitely have a sweet tooth and I am finding out how much I like carbs too. This has been a test in self-control to be sure! With God's help I will make it through these 2 weeks and I hope this process will help me to grow stronger in this fruit of the Spirit. There are even more important areas than health that I need to practice self-control in!
It is my goal to fully follow this passage; Be eager for Christ's coming and excited about working for Him! I hope you are too! What do you gain from this passage?
