Titus 2:11-14

Last week's memory verse was Titus 2:11-14, which says:

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "no" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem him from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
--Titus 2:11-14 (NIV)

The thought came to me that I should do devotions on this verse for the guys, and so I did! We started by saying the verse from memory (having no idea what I was going to talk about after this), after which I began to discuss the meaning of the verse with them. God's wisdom is far beyond our own wisdom and understanding, thus I was able to say something with a bit of purpose and meaning.

The first part of the verse is clearly saying that God's salvation message has appeared to all men through his grace! That means each and everyone of us are presented with a choice in our lives: will we have the humility to accept his gift or reject the grace that can save us from ourselves?

It would be too easy to pass over the next part without questioning "Why?". Why does God's grace teach us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions? Even more importantly, how does it teach us to say no? The answer is in the nature of why we seek ungodliness and worldly passions. We seek them to fill a void in our lives, an emptiness created by the lack of God's grace and mercy. Satan deceives us with passions and pleasures of the world, as the "king of empty promises" he sets to point us on a path of death and destruction. So we pursue the things in our lives that will bring us to ruin.

God's grace, on the other hand, fills us far fuller and greater than we ever knew we needed! Not only that, it brings a focus to our lives that we didn't have before. When the storm of life surrounds us with doubt and temptation, we can look to God's grace, his promise as our anchor and our hope. It gives us the will and the knowledge to say no to temptation, we can say to ourselves that there is something greater we can reach to.

The next part of the verse outlines what is the hope, that the hope is in the coming of Jesus Christ. The glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. What a blessed hope, wonderful promise! The next time you are faced with trial and temptation, focus on God's salvation and the return of his Son, it will give you a new perspective and strength in a tough situation.