How To Be A Titus 2 Woman, Verse 2 + Free Printable

Thank you so much for joining me as I study through Titus 2 and discover what it means to be the woman God designed me to be.
Today we are studying verse 2. When you read verse 2 you are probably going to wonder why I didn’t skip over it to verse 3 as the verse addresses aged men, but next week when we get to verse 3 I think you’ll understand why I included 2.
So, without further delay, lets dive in -
Titus 2, verse 2, “That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.”
Like I said above, this verse does address the aged men, but it also applies to women.
Usually when we see the word ‘sober’ we think of not being drunk; while I do believe this is one of the definitions of the way the word is used in the text, as we will see in verse 3, ‘being sober’ also means to be serious, and I believe that is what the word means in this particular verse. Think about it, living a life that is pleasing to God is pretty serious stuff, not to be taken lightly.
After all, God thought it pretty serious when we fell and needed a Savior, it was so serious to Him that He sent His only Son to pay our sin debt. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." God can’t even look upon sin, “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:” Habakkuk 1:13a.
Of course God wants us to have fun, but I think you’ll see as we go through these verses that He wants to impress upon us how serious living a life that is pleasing to Him really is, in behavior that becomes holiness, as the next word, grave, means the same thing, serious, and to have dignity in our attitudes and expressions, which is the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect.
I think we would all agree that there are certain occupations that are held to higher standards than others, like police officers, military personnel, the President, pastors and so on. Well, according to God’s Word, we are too. That doesn’t mean we are to act like snobs or be rude to people or think more highly of ourselves then we ought, but when satan comes around to knock you down, you can cut him off at the path and tell him you are a daughter of The King, an heir to the throne and your Daddy already defeated him at the cross!
While we are not going to be perfect, and God knows this, we should strive every day to live in a way that pleases and honors Him.

We are a peculiar people, set aside, and it should show in how we live, act and talk, not only at church, but at home, work, school, and in public.

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” I Peter 2:9. The world is watching us, if we live, act and talk like the world, why would they even want to know about God, or how could they even tell that Christians are different, set apart? How can we be that light on a hill if we are no different than the world?
Paul goes on in verse 2 telling us to be temperate, which means self-restrained, not extreme. Since Paul did not go into detail about what to be temperate about in this verse, my thoughts are that he meant in everything. In our opinions, responses to people, even foods and alcoholic beverages. It’s sooo hard when we are trying to disciple or witness to someone and they are stuck in sin, not budging, even arguing, not to get excited and, in my case at least, get a bit demanding! It’s not up to us to save the world or to even make anyone have any desire to love the Lord or live a life pleasing to Him, it is up to us to sow the seed, and set the example, the rest is up to the Lord and that person. I like something Charles Stanley says about obedience, which applies here to if you change the word obedience to disciple or witness, “Obey {disciple, teach, witness to so and so} God and leave all the consequences to Him {God}”.
We can’t even be saved if we don’t have faith. We certainly can’t live a life pleasing to God, or teach anyone else to, if we don’t have faith, in fact, it is impossible to please God without faith. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” Hebrews 11:6
Life isn’t perfect, and I know in my own life it seems as though daily something pops up to test my faith in God and His promises. While I can’t say I don’t ever worry, I can say when I catch myself worrying, I repent and turn it over to the Lord. He has yet to fail me or my family, and just like His Word says in Matthew 6, He always provides and takes care of us. What happens if we don’t nurture our faith? We worry, stress and fret over things and attempt to do things in our own strength. But if we’ll pray regularly, go to church on a regular basis, and read God’s Word every day and surround ourselves with other Christians for encouragement, our faith will be fed and we will learn to rely more and more on our heavenly Father.
Love – it’s something we all want and desire. But how can we say we love God if we say we hate someone? “We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also” I John 4:19-21
I totally get that some people are hard to love, I know at times I am hard to love, but ohhh praise God, even at those moments when I am hardest to love, my heavenly Father still loves me, and that is how we are to treat others. After all, after loving God, the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbors as ourselves. Matthew 22:37-40. Paul tells us in I Corinthians 13 that faith, hope, and charity {love} remain, but the greatest of these is love. God is love!

How do we love someone who is hard to love? Bring to mind how Christ loves you, even on your worse days, and that Christ loves that person the same way He loves you, He died for that person too. Sometimes, all a person needs is for someone to show them a little love.
“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” I John 4:7-12.
Finally, Paul brings in that ugly word, patience! While we all want people to be patient with us, we don’t always show patience with others like we should, like our children and husband, those closest to us. Life gets tiring, boring, routine, stressful, and sometimes it is hard to be patient with others, but lets not forget the patience our heavenly Father has not only toward us but He is also patient with the lost. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” II Peter 3:9. The Lord wants what is best for us, which of course is Him, and He loves us enough to tell and show us what is best for us, over and over again, until we finally get it.
If we are impatient, we can’t say we are living a life that is pleasing to God –

in those moments when impatience is creeping upon us, take a deep breath and remember our heavenly Father’s patience

– hold that little one that is asking the same question over and over every time you blink, talk to the Lord when the woman in line ahead of you pulls out a stack of sale ads or traffic is backed up. Sometimes we just have to take a deep breath and remember we are not perfect either!
God or the world?
So how does all of this apply to me and my day to day life?
For one, take living a life that is pleasing to God serious, He does, and in the long run, you will be happier. Clothe yourself in dignity and honor, because you are a daughter of THE King, but be self-restrained in your speech, actions and day to day life. Be sound in your faith, study God's Word, pray daily, attend regular worship services and surround yourself with other Christian women. Be quick to love, and show patience, a lot!
This all starts in the home; with our husbands and our children, we are to teach our children about the Lord and His ways, and the best way to do this is by example. If we’re not living what we’re preaching and teaching, then we are no different than the scribes and Pharisees.
Next week we'll continue with verse 3!

     

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Jenn