“Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.” Titus 3:1-2 ESV
Reflection: what is the easiest way to tell what a person is filled with?
The question to reflect on is actually very simple, so obvious. Although we can even make this very complicated. We have all run into people who claim to be Christians, but what comes out of their mouths says otherwise. They are always negative, bringing the mood down. Some tend to be gossipy, even hurtful, bringing others down. Or, perhaps those who often seem to be deceptive, telling half truths, to a point where you can never be sure that what they say is true. But they cannot be trusted. While we are not to judge them as Jesus said, we can easily know what is in their hearts. Because, what comes out of the mouth is what is in the heart.
It is really that simple.
We don’t have to wonder. Jesus talked about this many times, such as “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45 ESV. And, as Paul is telling Titus to instruct the Christians in Crete, “to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.” Titus 3:2 ESV. He is really saying that this is one of the big, noticeable differences between those who follow Christ, and those who follow the world. We can almost think of the words coming out as a
“spiritual temperature gauge” of the heart.
In a way, by the words we can tell whether the spiritual heart is healthy, or sick. We also think of this as “fruit”. As Jesus was talking with the religious leaders, the Pharisees, he did not mince words. ““Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.” Matthew 12:33-35 ESV
In addition to instructing on the use of words, Paul also said to Titus to “Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,” Titus 3:1 ESV. Wow. That is a difficult test as we watch so much evil among our political leaders and rulers in our time. But keep in mind that this has never changed. That certainly was also the case in the days of Paul and Titus. They were persecuting followers of Christ, even putting them to death. And, in addition, notice that the focus of a Christian is to be “ready for every good work”. That is quite an interesting thought. To be
ready to do good.
That speaks of an attitude of the heart. Not just to speak well of others, but to always be ready to do good towards them, ready for them when they need us. And Paul doesn’t specify here just towards believers, and not just those who do good towards us. We each have so much to reflect on here, as followers of Christ. What is the spiritual temperature of your heart? Do we “warm up” others by our words and actions? It is only God who can transform our hearts. as David also realized and wrote “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”Psalm 51:10 ESV