As for you, Titus, promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching. TITUS 2:1 (NLT)

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Everyone has a voice today. Social media guarantees it. Someone will let you say whatever you want. There is a difference, however, between having to say something and having something to say. 

Titus had served with the Apostle Paul. He had learned from him. He was putting into practice what he had observed and heard. Paul wrote words of encouragement and instruction to help him focus on what was most important. Paul said, “promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching.”

Of all the things Titus could say, what he should say was what brings out the best in others. He was to teach God’s truth in such a manner that old and young, women and men could take it to heart and put it into practice.

Titus could focus on the pains of the past, the predicaments of the moment, or the preferred future made possible by the good news of Jesus. Paul told Titus to focus on building a better world. 

There’s a thought for today, huh? What can I do or say today that reflects where I am headed rather than where I came from? How can I assist others on their journey toward the positive alternative to all of the problems of my past? 

Every sinner has a future; every saint has a past. Oscar Wilde not only gave us this simple summary, he illustrated it with his life. He also showed us the destructive nature of moving in the opposite direction of what Paul instructed Titus. 

Today is a good day to put yesterday where it belongs and to stretch toward that day of all days when every tear is wiped away. 

No more tears
No more worries
No more fears
No more shame

Let us lean into that special future today and join God in creating a little more heaven on earth. 

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I will lean into the special future our Father in heaven is drawing us into.

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Our Father, there is so much pain, sorrow, grief, and regret in our lives. Save, deliver, and heal us from the pains of our past. Empower us to live in the sunshine of your new Day. May we enjoy the blessings of wholesome living as we stretch toward that tearless eternity. Amen.