Life is a classroom. The sooner we give up on the idea that we learn only at church or during study sessions, the easier it will be for the Lord to open our eyes.
Do you remember what Paul told Titus? “The aged women..teach the young women” (Titus 2:3-4). There is no qualifier. Paul didn’t say the older women should be teaching, but that they taught. Their example resonated, and he wanted them to be “teachers of good things” (Titus 2:3).
Dear reader, you are teaching someone right now. It might be your children, or a young woman who admires you or the lady across the street. We teach, and we should become more deliberate in the lessons we’re sharing.
Teaching Life Skills
What do you know that you didn’t learn? Nothing. How many of those skills were taught to you by someone? Almost all of them.
What are life skills you feel are essential?
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Who taught these to you?
Most of us had parents to show us the basic life survival skills. Or there might have been an elementary school teacher who we bonded with, or a Sunday school teacher.
You are that person to someone else.
Read Titus 2:3-5 again. What things should the older women teach the younger women?
How do you teach someone to love their husband and children?
Once again, this teaching can be done more effectively by example. Believe me, if people think you have a great marriage, they’ll ask you how you do it. My answer is always, “By the grace of God.” (Being married to Mr. Wonderful also helps.)
How is teaching different from mentoring?
How are they related?
You can teach without mentoring someone, but it would be difficult to mentor someone without a small amount of teaching.
Modeling Holiness
Now let’s get back to the subject of godly focus in our lives. How can we model this for other people?
What is holiness?
People get confused about this term. They think it is something superlative and out of reach. If that’s the case, why did God instruct us to be holy like He is (1 Peter 1:16)?
This is what Vine’s says about holiness:
It is used of men and things in so far as they are devoted to God…This sainthood is not an attainment, it is a state into which God in grace calls men; yet believers are called to sanctify themselves…from all defilement, forsaking sin, living a “holy” manner of life and experiencing fellowship with God in His holiness.5
Great, but what does this holy manner of life look like? Read Titus 2:11-15. According to verse 12 what does God’s grace teach us to avoid?
What does it teach us to do instead?
In verse 13, Paul tells Titus what the people who live by God’s grace focus on. What is it?
How does looking to Jesus help us in our walk (v. 14)?
Notice verse 15. These things are so important, the Apostle Paul told Titus to speak about them, exhort according to them, and rebuke concerning their lack. Wow.
Look at 2 Peter 1:3-8. This passage has much to say about holy living.
First things first. According to verse 3, what does every person who knows Christ as Savior have?
How do we get this “divine power”?
In Christ, we are heirs to exceeding great and precious promises. One promise is access to the very nature of Jesus Christ himself.
Is this automatic at salvation? I don’t believe so.
Picture this if you will.6 Christ’s nature is a tower. When we’re saved, God hands us a key to the door. Ahead of us, a staircase winds up and up. At the top hangs a mirror where we see ourselves conformed to Christ’s image.
The stairs are found in verses 5-7. What are the things we must add to our faith if we want to access Christ’s holiness?
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Christianity requires a lifestyle of dedication to constant learning and improving. I thank the Lord for the love of learning He gave me. Some days it even helps me live the way I should.
This Bible lesson was first published in FINDING FOCUS THROUGH THE LENS OF GOD’S WORD in 2016, copyright belongs to Sharon Hughson