TItus

When I came across this verse from Titus,

Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted.

I thought about how I developed a “dirty mind” as a preteen.  My friends and I would turn every turn of phrase that anyone said into some sort of depraved joke.  We thought we were so grown up because all of a sudden we thought we were wiser than everyone around us. Just a little knowledge about corrupt concepts turned my thinking over to those concepts.  So I see here the wisdom in Paul’s words to Titus.  That’s why it is so important to guard our own hearts and minds — and to teach our children how to guard theirs — from the corrupt forces of this world.

How, then, are we to live?  Do we put blinders on?  Throw the television out with the bathwater?  Hunker down in a bunker while the evil forces continue to lash out at our nation as a whole and our people individually?

No.  Paul tells us:

For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.  He gave his life to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.

So we will, according to Paul, counteract the evil in this world by:

• Living with wisdom
• Living with righteousness
• Living with devotion to God
• Living with hope of Jesus’ return
• Be committed to doing good deeds

Can you tell I like lists?  I like it when I have clear directions — and here, in these verses in Titus, Paul gives us a guide to live by for the daily ins and outs of life.