GRINDIT podcast

Paul tells the men they should not wear a head covering while telling the women to wear one. Then he says the women have long hair for a covering and men should not have long hair. Is this even an issue in the church for today? Is this a “culture” thing? We like to say it is because in our western church culture in 2026, this is not an issue. Very few women wear a head covering and when they do, it's a hat. With men, some wear hats during services, including preachers and worship leaders, and some men have long hair which goes totally against what Paul says! So, what is the deal? And how can we pick and choose what is cultural and what is not? For example, Paul says a woman is not permitted to speak yet even in this chapter he is talking about women praying! We discuss it all in this episode...

Paul is going to bring order to the chaos at the church in Corinth. Since we started studying this letter, we have seen all kinds of chaos in this church and it is going to get worse before it gets better. Paul begins to instruct them how to conduct themselves as they come together as one body and he immediately establishes the order of authority which tells me there were some women who were out of order and dishonoring the authority God has set in place. Any time this takes place, chaos ensues. Paul goes back to Creation when God created the human race, the order He created male and female and how He created male and female. God created the male human being then placed him in the Garden of Eden. Then He took a rib from the male human being, and created a female human being. This is why Paul says God is the ultimate authority, man is next in authority, then the female. In today's society, we try to re-establish authority and it does not line up with God's will, whether we like that or not.

Paul says to the church at Corinth, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.” The word in the Greek is where we get our word “mimic.” Paul is saying that he has such a close relationship with Jesus that he mimics him in everything he does and therefore, he can say to the believers, “Y'all mimic me because I am mimicking, I am acting just like Jesus.” Can we say that? Are we acting just like Jesus? What if someone was to follow your lead? Where would you lead them? To Jesus? Away from Jesus? Is your walk with Christ like a rollercoaster, up and down, turning all around, then back to the station? Or is it solid, trustworthy, stable, steady so that you can lead others to the immovable stone, the solid rock, Jesus?

The believers at Corinth believe that since they have decided to follow Jesus and he has given them freedom from the bondage of sin, they can do whatever they want. In their culture, just like ours, temptation is all around them, everywhere they go. Temples with prostitutes are seen from any direction, meat sacrificed to idols is being sold in restaurants and marketplaces, and with their freedom they have in Jesus, they tend to give into temptations and sin. Paul says, “Yes, you have freedom in Christ, but not all freedoms are beneficial. The King James Version says they are not all expedient and edifying. Yes, we have been set free from sin by Jesus, but there are other people to think about, and this is what Paul is saying. Don't let your freedom cause others to sin!

Paul tells the believers in Corinth, “If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.” Why does he say this? Because some of these believers think they have a ticket to do anything they want since they started following Jesus but what Paul is emphasizing to them is this is not the case! They must stop sinning which is what he will plainly tell them later on. He tells them here that God makes a way of escaping temptation. You can so no and flee! Get out of there, out of the situation that has led you to be tempted! Being tempted is not a sin for Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan but he never sinned, and this same Jesus who overcame the enemy and his temptations, has defeated him, and he lives in us through the Holy Spirit! Go and sin no more!

The church at Corinth was filled with people who loved sin yet they had said “Yes!” to Jesus and Paul calls them holy. This entire letter is Paul answering questions for them that tries to correct their sinful choices as they continue to give into temptations. The believers in Corinth were very prideful and arrogant, they were products of their culture, yet they are full of the Holy Spirit and should have a change in their behavior that is opposite of their culture. They all believed they were in good standing with God even though they were living in sin so Paul tells them, “Take heed” or “Pay close attention...” because if you don't, you are going to fall.

I cannot tell you how many times someone has come to me and said, “Remember when...” and they give me a bunch of details about something that happened to us as kids. The problem is, I cannot remember anything about the event. I can't remember it even happening! How can they remember so many details about it and I can't even remember it happening at all? The problem is with me...I forget things easily and this is what Paul is telling the church. Y'all need to look at the past, the history of your ancestors and learn from their mistakes. You are continuing the same path they were on and God punished them for their sin. You do not want God to punish you for sin so quit giving into the temptations and run to God. The one who provides everything for you including a perfect sacrifice, His son, that washes away your sin!

Paul was a small man according to how people describe him in 2 Corinthians 10:10. But I think there is a reason for this. He was disciplined in his life just like an athlete. He maintained good health by eating right and getting lots of exercise with all the traveling he is doing. He had to be in shape to endure all the things he suffered, from being stoned, beaten, flogged, and shipwrecked, yet he continued to travel on in the name of Jesus! He practiced what he preached because he didn't want others to consider him a castaway, which means he didn't want others to reject his message because the way his body looked or how his life looked. He disciplined himself spiritually and physically for the sake of the gospel.

If you want to share the gospel with someone, and you should want to share it with as many people as possible, then you have to find common ground with the person or people. Paul says when he is with the weak, he is weak; when he is with the Jews, he lives as a Jew; when he is with Gentiles, he lives as a Gentile. He isn't saying to cross the line into sin with the people you are trying to reach, but he is saying, “Find some common ground.” The only way to do that is hang out with someone and get to know them, their likes and dislikes, and when you discover something you have in common, dive deep into that subject and find a way to work Jesus into the congregation!

One of the biggest debates in churches today is, “Should preachers get paid?” and if they should, then how much? Where do you draw the line? Is he to make more than the average income of the congregation? And why do churches hide the preacher's salary in the budget? Why do they not make it public? People see these megachurch preachers with their ginormous houses, private jets, owning their own jet, the fancy cars they drive and completely turned off from the gospel because of their extravagant lifestyle. Paul says he doesn't get paid for preaching the gospel, however, he was supported at times by some of the churches he started. They would send a monetary gift to him even though he never asked for it. So yes, preachers should get paid, but the question becomes “How much?”

There were 12 original, hand-picked disciples of Jesus until Judas died by suicide. After he died, Peter said, “Boys, there has to be 12 so we need to fill this vacancy!” So they chose two men who met the qualifications to be an apostle, “they had to be with Jesus from the beginning when he started his ministry and they had to witness his resurrection.” Mathias was chosen to replace Judas by casting lots. Guess who wasn't there?!?! The man who was persecuting these Jesus followers—Saul who later became Paul! So there is a good reason for the people to question his authority...or is it? Paul saw Jesus and was commissioned by him to take the gospel to the Gentiles, and just like the original disciples, Paul was confirming his message with miracles. Yet, Paul continued to humble himself in order to win others to Christ!

Christ has set us free from sin, yes, but do we have freedom? Can we do anything we want? No! And this is Paul's point in chapter 8. If a weaker believer sees another believer eating in the food court at the pagan temple, they may believe it is OK for them to do the same thing, but in doing so, they have violated their conscience because they believe it is a sin to eat meat that was used in a pagan sacrifice, which Paul says is a sin. Not only is it a sin for the one violating their conscience, it is a sin by the one who caused the weaker believer to stumble! This is why Paul says, “If eating meat is going to cause others to stumble, then I simply won't eat meat.”

Paul has been asked a question about eating meat that has been sacrificed to idols. In his response to the church at Corinth, he keeps bringing up their “Superior knowledge” about the subject at hand. Jews would have God's law concerning which food to eat and not eat, while the Gentiles didn't have any laws and ate whatever they wanted. Paul is comparing the stronger believer to the weaker believer and he tells the stronger believer that can't do whatever they want concerning eating this meat because it may cause the weaker believer to fall into sin! Then he really lowers the boom when he tells them that they should be showing God's love to the weaker believer which is a unconditional love.

Paul's main goal for the believers in Corinth is for each believer to focus on Jesus and to be an example of him. In order to do this, they are going to have to quit the sexual immorality that is running through the church. If they can't control their sexual desire then each man is to get a wife and each woman is to get a husband. But Paul strongly encourages the single people to stay single the married people to stay married, to quit sleeping around with one another! He calls them holy and reminds them they are holy because they have Jesus living inside them through the Holy Spirit! And this is the main message of this chapter—Be holy! Know whose you are and who you are in Jesus!

Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, people who have said “yes!” to Jesus and are filled with his Spirit and yet cannot curb their sexual appetite. He told them to get a spouse if they can't stop having sex with one another. But he tells them it would be better for them to be like him—single because they could focus all their attention on Jesus and serving him. If they were to marry, they would have to divide their attention between their spouse and Jesus, but if they don't marry and continue to sin by having sex with one another without being married, then they are sinning and that separates them from God. What's missing from this equation? The Holy Spirit who produces fruit in us and that fruit includes self-control. websites: www.thegote.org and www.marygamboamusic.com

I did a Google search on the cost of Herd's Temple which is the Temple Jesus and the disciples, even Paul and his coworkers, are familiar with, and money wise, the estimation was over $300 billion. Yes, that is Billion with a “B”! It all came tumbling down when the Romans destroyed it in AD70! It's literally laying around the foundation of the Temple in a pile of rubble! Jesus said, “Destroy this Temple and I will rebuild it in three days,” talking about himself. How valuable is Jesus? He is priceless! You can't put a value on God coming down to earth and living as a man, laying down his life voluntarily to become the sacrifice that washes away sin! And not only that, he chooses to live inside his people through the Holy Spirit! So why would we choose to carry that priceless person with us into sin? That is Paul's message to the church at Corinth. Quit the sin people and focus on serving God to the best of your ability!

Paul has chased a rabbit in the previous chapter when he confronted the man having sex with his stepmom but in chapter 7 he comes back to the questions the church has asked him in a letter. That question must have asked something about all the sexual sin that is happening in the church in Corinth. Paul says, “It's not good for a man to touch a woman, but since yall have such a sexual desire for one another, get a wife! Get a husband! Because it is better to marry than to burn with lust. Why? Because Jesus says, “If you look at a woman with lust, you are sinning!” Our culture isn't any different than the culture in Corinth when Paul started the church there. Same problems! Same solutions!

One of the issues with the church at Corinth is they do not realize who they are in Christ. They have forgotten the old, sinful man was dead and they are allowing sin to be in the church. Paul keeps naming some of the sin they are contending with and in this particular instance, they are boasting about a sexual sin that is happening within the church between a man, his wife, and his son. It's not just a one time thing, but a many time thing! Paul reminds them they are the Temple of the living God, that He dwells inside them through the Holy Spirit! How can they continue to live in sin when they should be led by the Spirit of God who they carry into their sin?!?!? They died to sin when they came to Christ and they should continue to die to sin on a daily basis but they are choosing to sin and boast about it!

The church at Corinth had many issues and the one Paul has been discussing in chapter 5 and now in chapter 6 is sexual immorality, in particular, a man was sleeping with his dad's wife better known as his stepmom. At the beginning of chapter 6, Paul discusses the church taking one another to court and suing one another which makes me think the dad has taken his son to court in order to get him separated from his wife. They way this chapter reads is many of the believers at Corinth were taking one another to court and Paul's response to them is, “What are you doing? You should be ashamed taking the stuff you can handle yourselves in a court where unbelievers will be making the decisions.” In other words, “You belong to Christ so what are you doing?”

Due to a family emergency, we are not able to record this week. If you would, please keep my mother in law in your prayers. Her name is Janet and her cancer has been in remission for over a year but it has returned in three different areas. We appreciate you!

There is a major sin issue Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians 5 and he tells the church, who is boasting about this particular sin, that this man should be banned from their assembly, he should be turned over to Satan, and they should not even eat a meal with this guy! Sin is serious and is not a toy to be played with! We are to repent of our sin, which means turn away from it, and we must die to sin (Romans 6). When we give our lives to Christ, the old man is buried and we come out of that water a new creation, filled with he Holy Spirit. He begins to transform our lives into he image of Christ...if we let him. Do not choose sin over righteousness!

Sin is serious business. It comes with great consequences and the one being the worst is separation from God for eternity. Praise God, if we know Jesus, we have an advocate with the Father! Someone like a lawyer who pleads our case before God and says, “They are not guilty because they know me.” But that's just it...do you KNOW Jesus? No really? Do you KNOW Jesus? Do you have an intimate relationship with him? Or do you continue to practice sin? Paul tells the church at Corinth that this man who is sleeping with his stepmom has to be disfellowshipped and put back into the world where Satan is his god. He does not belong in the body of Christ! It is strong language and we dive in deep in these podcasts!

Has someone told you, “Don't judge me.” Or something like that? Are we to judge others? Paul makes it clear that he has already judged the man who is having sexual relations with his stepmom and he isn't even present! The church at Corinth was boasting about this sin instead of dealing with and Paul tells them to get rid of the leaven because it is affecting the entire lump of dough. Jesus talks about judging others. He says we will be judged by the same measure we judge others. What is that measure? It is the word of God! God has set the standard and guess what...we all fall short! We are all guilty and we all need a Redeemer!

The church at Corinth was boasting and their heads were swelling with pride as we say but not over a good thing! There was a man having a sexual relationship with his stepmom in the church and the church was boasting about this sin instead of putting an end to it. Paul says, “What are yall doing? I'm not even there and I have already judged the guy. Get him out of your fellowship, turn him over to Satan, and don't even have a meal with him.” We can learn a great lesson from the church at Corinth...Sin is serious and it should not be tolerated.

God designed sex and made man to have sex. He made a male and a female in the garden of Eden and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply.” When we go outside of God's design for sex, a male and female being married and having all the sex they want, it is sin. Sin brings separation between us and God which is why we are told over and over again to “Repent” from sin, or “turn away” from sin. Sex is the only sin that we commit against our own body. Why is that? Because we are making ourselves our own god!

Remember the childhood song, “Be careful little eyes what you see...Be careful little ears what you hear...”? It's simple but so profound! In our culture, we have become desensitized to sin and its consequences, especially when it comes to sexual sin. Sex is everywhere and easily accessible! It seems to literally everywhere we look! From billboards, tv commercials, to cell phones, things that arouse our sexual pleasures are right before our eyes 24/7! We may not be tempted to look at fruit and desire it, but we are certainly attracted to a different kind of fruit and we desire it. When we are pulled away by our own desires and lusts, it becomes sin and sin separates us from God. We are called to live holy and separate from the world. We are the image of God!

Warning! This episode is not suitable for children! Mature Audience Only Ever since I was old enough to read the bible and understand it, I have come across the words “Fornication” and “Adultery” but did not know there was a difference. The two are closely related but they each mean something different. Most translations will use the words “sexual immorality” instead of “Fornication”. In the church at Corinth, a young man was committing sexual immorality with his stepmom! Yeah! He was having sex with his dad's wife! And the bad thing was, the church was tolerating the sin and ignoring it! Paul says, “This can't be happening and you need to deal with it immediately!”

*Warning! This episode is not suitable for children! * Ever since I was old enough to read the bible and understand it, I have come across the words “Fornication” and “Adultery” but did not know there was a difference. The two are closely related but they each mean something different. Most translations will use the words “sexual immorality” instead of “Fornication”. In the church at Corinth, a young man was committing sexual immorality with his stepmom! Yeah! He was having sex with his dad's wife! And the bad thing was, the church was tolerating the sin and ignoring it! Paul says, “This can't be happening and you need to deal with it immediately!”

With the church at Corinth becoming arrogant and prideful after Paul left, he writes to them making fun of their attitude and he contrasts it with himself and the other apostles as being made a spectacle to the whole world by God. He says they are like a Greek play in the local theater, out there for the whole cosmos to see. But then he compares them to prisoners of war which is rough, opposite of what the church at Corinth is like. He could possibly be referring to The Lachish reliefs which were recently found and put in a British museum. They are carvings in Ninevah showing Sennacherib defeating Judah and taking prisoners back to Ninevah. You can read about it in 2 Kings 18-19. Paul is telling the church to learn some humility and quit the division that is going on between them.

The church at Corinth has become proud and arrogant since Paul left. He started the church in Acts 18 and stayed in Corinth for a year and a half but after leaving, they turned inward and began to be jealous of one another and quarreling. He pokes at them a little by telling them they have become rich and have everything they need, living like kings who are sovereign and have lots of power. They have forgotten were their gifts come from—God, and they are relying on themselves. Paul will send Timothy to Corinth to help them learn some humility before he arrives for a visit. He gives them the option: learn now before I get there or it will not be pretty when I come!

When I hear the word “steward” I think of the people who work on airplanes that go up and down the aisles asking people if they want peanuts, a cookie, or some type of drink. They also have the job of making sure everyone follows the rules such as putting on our seatbelts as the plane is getting ready to take off. They “manage” the plane if you will. For a short time, the plane is a dwelling place full of people and the steward makes sure everything is in order. Paul says he, Apollos, Peter, and other who minister the gospel are simply stewards who must be faithful. Unseen, unheard, and faithful are three words to describe these men the Corinthian church are dividing over. Do those words describe us as we carry the gospel to others?

Paul has been dealing with division in the church at Corinth since chapter 1. That means he uses for chapters to confront this issue which means it very important. The division was coming from the people looking at Paul, Apollos, Peter, and others as THE most important person because they are the one who converted them to Jesus. Paul has told them, “We are nothing but simply the ones who plant and water so look to the one who DOES matter, Jesus.” In chapter 4 Paul says, “We are simply ministers who steward the mysteries of God.” When you look at this in the Greek, Paul uses a word that means “under rowers” referring to the ones who are below the deck rowing these big ships he travels on. They are unseen, not heard, and row to their captains command. Let that sink in...that totally goes against our 2026 culture!

The church at Corinth was concerned with who baptized them, which minister of the gospel they liked the best, and this was stirring up jealousy, strife, contention, arguments, and all of this was leading to division. Paul explains to the church that he, along with Peter, Apollos, and any other teacher that came to the church to speak, is nothing. They are all laborers that have a job—to plant and water seed. That's it. That's all we can do! We plant seed, we water seed, but we cannot make seed produce fruit! Only God can do that! Therefore, he is telling the church in Corinth, these people you are dividing over are not important at all. The one who is important is Jesus and you should be focusing all of your time and energy on him!

When I was a kid back in the 80s, there was a milk slogan that said, “Milk, it does a body good” It was an advertising slogan used by the American Dairy Association from the 1980s through the 1990s. The campaign aimed to highlight milk's health benefits such as building strong bones, muscle repair, and providing essential nutrients like protein and calcium. Peter talks about consuming the milk of God, even craving it, as we are being built into God's temple, but Paul tells the church at Corinth they should be off of milk by now and eating solid food. What is he talking about? He is talking about wisdom—the world's wisdom, which is what the church at Corinth was drinking from, verses God's wisdom that comes from the Holy Spirit...whom, by the way, lives inside them! They were being led by the wrong wisdom!

Do you realize that if you have given your life to Jesus you have been filled with his Spirit and therefore, you have the mind of Christ?!?!? That's right!!! You have the mind of Christ so your life should reflect that. When we look at the church at Corinth, whom Paul calls holy, they are lacking in the category! There are things going on that do not reflect Christ in that church and Paul is saying to them, “What are yall doing? Why do yall have divisions among you? Yall should all be focused on Jesus and nobody else!” Why? Because they have been given freely the Holy Spirit of God and through the Spirit, they have the mind of Christ and God reveals His secrets to them through His Spirit.

Paul was dealing with a lot of stuff with the church at Corinth but one thing in particular he was wrestling with was the local philosophers. These philosophers were engrained in the Corinthian culture, especially with the rich. These philosophers would come to town with their fancy speeches trying to persuade young men to become their followers so they could teach them their ways and they too, could sound educated and impress the crowds. They would charge the rich families a fortune to send their children to their school. Paul says to the church at Corinth, “I came to you with a simple thought...the gospel, and I let the Holy Spirit do his thing.”

Paul tells the church at Corinth the power is in the cross of Christ. He says to the Greeks the cross is foolish and they refuse to believe while to the Jews, the cross is foolishness and they seek a sign to prove that it is true. This is nothing new for this was going on when Jesus was there among them performing miracles. There are so many people today trying to gain power, doing whatever they can to climb the ladder to get power. All they have to do is look to the cross and the gospel yet, they reject it. Sure they will climb the ladder and have power, even a lot of money, but like Jesus said, “What is your soul worth? You can gain the whole world and lose your soul.” Then what? When we take our last breath, none of that power will help us. When we cross into eternity, the only thing that will matter is Jesus and whether we had a relationship with him or not.

The first issue Paul brings up to the church at Corinth is their division. One thing we understand from what he says is these people are playing favorites. Someone shared the gospel with them and they were baptized by that certain person. Paul even shares some of their names! However, Paul tells them they are focused on the wrong person and their division isn't necessary. They are to be focusing on Jessus, the one who died on the cross and saved them from their sins. He is the most important person and the others are not important at all.

When we studied Titus, Paul talked about the Holy Spirit being poured upon God's people from the depths of God's bosom and he said God gives His spirit “generously,” He gives an endless supply to His people! Why? So we can endure to the end as he leads us. There are people who teach we have nothing to do with our salvation and this is absolute false. Paul says, “and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Paul is talking to the church in Corinth, the ones he called “holy” at the beginning of the letter. He makes it clear that Jesus has the power to keep us and will keep us, if we keep in partnership with him. It's called free will. If we look at other scriptures, they will support the idea. We will do a deep dive in this podcast...take a listen then share it with others!

Paul has just told the church in Corinth they are holy because they belong to Jesus. He then proceeds to tell them they have all the spiritual gifts they need as they are waiting for Jesus to return. We see these gifts mentions in chapter 12 and we will discuss these in more detail when we get there but we want you to know God has filled you with the Holy Spirit and through His Spirit, He has given you a gift to use to encourage others in the kingdom, to endure, and to bring God glory! What gift do you have to use? Are you using it? If not, why not?!?!?

Paul mentions to the church in Corinth that they are holy because they have called on the name of the Lord. Not only them, but people outside of Corinth, both Jew and Gentile. What does it mean to “Call on the name of the Lord”? Does that mean we can just call on Jesus and be saved? What about baptism? Is baptism necessary for salvation? Should I get baptized? We take a deep dive into these two very important questions and we aren't regurgitating someone else's teaching. We will bring you truth straight from the word of God because THAT is what matters!

Does God call us? Do we call on God? Is salvation only up to God or do we play a role? Where does baptism fit in that scenario? Does baptism even fit? Does it matter when it comes to salvation? Is the only thing we have to do is to confess Jesus and believe in our heart? We tackle these question in this episode.

The church at Corinth was jacked up in all kinds of ways...just like the church in our day! People make comments how they don't want to go to “church” because it's full of hypocrites. Churches are full of people...people are jacked up...we ALL need Jesus! However, the church in Corinth seemed to bring a lot of their culture into the church instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to shape them but in all of that, Paul still tells them, “You are God's holy people.” Despite being jacked up in all kinds of ways, they said “yes” to Jesus and his blood washes their sins away...just like you and me if we have said “yes” to him.

The church at Corinth was jacked up in all kinds of ways...just like the church in our day! People make comments how they don't want to go to “church” because it's full of hypocrites. Churches are full of people...people are jacked up...we ALL need Jesus! However, the church in Corinth seemed to bring a lot of their culture into the church instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to shape them but in all of that, Paul still tells them, “You are God's holy people.” Despite being jacked up in all kinds of ways, they said “yes” to Jesus and his blood washes their sins away...just like you and me if we have said “yes” to him.

One of the things Paul wants the people of Crete to learn is to be generous givers. He tells Titus that he will soon be sending Tychicus or Artemas to take his place, and once they get there, Titus is to meet Paul in Nicopolis. But toward the end of the letter, Paul mentions two people, Zenas the lawyer and Apollos. He says they are basically traveling missionaries and they have needs that the church in Crete needs to meet by giving them what they need and be generous about it. He says by doing so, they will learn to “do good by meeting the urgent needs of others.” One way we can show Jesus to people is to be generous givers, like Jesus. He was always giving and we must do the same!

In many of his letters, Paul talks about how we are saved and he is clear: Not by our works but by God's grace and His mercy. He talks about the Jews trying to convince the Gentiles they must also follow the law, including circumcision. The guy Paul is writing this letter to is a Gentile who is not circumcised which is living proof that God is moving in the lives of the uncircumcised Gentiles therefore, salvation has nothing to do with works. He tells Titus to not engage in any arguments with these people who insist on following the law, in fact, he tells Titus to warn them twice, and if they don't listen, send them on their way and have nothing to do with them.

Titus 3 is so rich in the Greek, literally! Paul uses a word in the Greek to describe God pouring the Holy Spirit out on those who choose to follow Jesus. The word he uses in the Greek means “rich” as in having an abundant supply that will never run out, it just continues to flow. I don't know what that is like but there are some that have so much money, their kids and grandkids could never exhaust their bank account! I'm not too sure, as believers, we understand this concept. God pours out His Spirit on those who trust in Him. We take a deep dive on this topic in this podcast. Thanks for listening!

When Paul started his letter to Titus, he said the Cretans own prophet said they were “liars, evil brutes, and lazy gluttons.” Then he went on to talk about how they are also deceivers. Instead of condemning, Paul includes himself and Titus as a sinners when he used the word “We...”. Paul knew who he was and what he was doing before Jesus revealed himself to Paul showing him grace and mercy on the road to Damascus. Paul's life was forever changed and he wants this for the people of Crete, as well the people everywhere he shares the gospel!

Paul is going to address slaves and how they are to be obedient to their masters and not talk back. You may be asking, “I'm not a slave so how does this affect me?” I would argue there are still slaves today, we just get paychecks and get to go home at the end of the workday. We all have bosses, many of them, we have to do what they say or we get fired, and we are making someone very rich! So what Paul says to slaves can be said of us! Work hard, be obedient, take pride in your work, and don't talk back to your bosses. In other words, let your work stand out so people see Jesus in you!

Paul tells Titus who to teach and what to teach. He tells him to teach the older men to do certain things and live a certain way. He tells him to teach women the same thing...why? So they can take what they learn and pass it on to the younger men and women. They are to lead by example! When you break down the Greek, it is some very challenging thoughts, especially for the men because Titus is in Crete to appoint elders, leaders in the church so he will be examining the lives of the older men to see if they are living for Jesus, righteous and holy!

Titus has the difficult task of finding leaders, elders, for the churches on the island of Crete. The people of Crete are described as “liars, cruel animals, and lazy gluttons.” However, for those who had died to their old selves and are filled with the Holy Spirit, they have crucified that old man and have become a new creation in Christ, are those whose hearts the Father prunes and they produce good fruit. They will be easy top spot because they will look like Jesus! Paul says these people who claim to know God but do not look like Him are worthless and good for nothing. I want to be valuable for the kingdom of God, used by Him to bring glory to His name!