Remember the promise out of Titus 3 from yesterday’s devotion? “[God] saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” (v 5-7)
It is the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit which sets us free from the world’s attitude of serving self only. But Paul didn’t stop there when he wrote that to Titus, he went on. “This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.” (v 8)
One of the greatest ways to drive the attitude of serving self from our hearts is to become devoted to doing what is good. And, of course, the unspoken inference is that it is God who determines what “that good” is. Let’s admit, we humans can pervert even what is good!
Doing is good is not always easy either. It usually involves the expenditure of our time, energy and resources. Even more, doing good is not easy because it means so much more than just giving people what they want. Doing good is seeing “need” through the eyes of God and not our own. That can mean tough love, discipline and speaking the truth, which often offends. Doing good for our children means giving lots of love, as well as boundaries and time out’s.
Despite all the difficulties involved, we are still to be “careful to devote [ourselves] to doing what is good.” We are to follow God’s example. His doing good for us involved His one and only Son and a cross.
