Saturday – Letters (delayed from New Years Day)
Reading – Titus 1-3
Highlight Verses:
“Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.”
Titus 3:1-2 NLT
As I was praying for guidance on what to write about for today’s reading, the only word that came to mind was humility.
I then opened my eyes to find it right here in chapter 3. And what a context!
It is very interesting that Paul talks about submitting to the government right before not slandering and avoiding quarreling.
Quite frankly, some of the most slandered and quarreled about people are those in government.
There are such sharply divergent opinions of what to do in government that is is difficult not to quarrel.
Many resort to slandering those they oppose.
Many of you right now are thinking, “Yes, those guys from the other party are always slandering our people.” But let’s be honest, it happens on both sides.
And it is in direct opposition to this command.
I’m not saying that you should just let the other side just bully you into submission.
But what would happen if we treated people on all political spectrums with love and respect. We can listen to them and care about them while standing for what we believe is right.
If we show enough respect with strength, we might actually begin to affect their opinions about what is really right for government.
What are ways that you can show respect for someone with opposite opinions?
How do you deal with it when the opposition turns slanderous?
One way I have seen in the past was when people were demonstrating in front of Chick-Fil-A. The employees brought out drinks and snacks to the long lines of people who opposed the boycott as well as to the protestors speaking out against them.
Walk in the Light 