Passage Read: Titus 3 - Philemon 1
Meditation Verse: Titus 3:3
Thought
Foolishness, disobedience, being deceived and enslaved to all kinds of pleasures and passions, living in malice and envy, hating one another and being hated, these all characterize the life I had before the Gospel and my salvation came to me. They do not characterize my life after the kindness of God brought me to believe the Gospel of Christ Jesus. They must not characterize my life after being reborn and renewed by the Spirit's washing of me. If I still live in foolishness and disobedience, if I still live as one deceived by the world and enslaved to my passions and pleasures, if I still live in malice and envy, hating others and being hated, then I have not come to faith in Christ, or else I've gone back to wallowing in the mud after having been washed and made new. Either way, I do not belong to Christ or I'm in danger of losing my inclusion with Christ. I'm a foolish virgin instead of a wise one, in danger of being shut out when the bridegroom comes. Now is the time to take warning and break with these things and live the righteous life God intended when He made me new.
Application
The Scriptures show me what is foolishness and how I've been deceived. They are the truth and I need to replace my former beliefs and values with what they teach and reveal. I need to submit to the commands and instructions of God as taught in the Scriptures and stop resisting God, His Word and His Spirit. I need to live for Christ, to know Him and advance His Kingdom, and set aside my own passions and pleasures. I need to set my hope fully on the promise of the Gospel and the rewards of God in His eternal Kingdom and cease pursuing what the world wars to gain and incites me to hostility and envy, hating others and being someone they hate. There will still be those who hate me, but it should only be them who hate and only because I belong to Christ and walk in His ways. The things Paul lists here must not exist in my life, because they don't belong to one who has been saved, but to one who is still lost, and I don't want to be one who is lost.