Roles, Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Reading: Titus 2:2, 6, ²Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. ⁶Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled

I Timothy 5:1-2, ¹Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, ²older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

These verses make me want to break out into the old Gaither song, “I’m so glad, I’m a part of the family of God.” It’s wonderful how Paul instructs to treat each other like a member of the family. In so doing, Paul signifies roles, responsibilities and/or attributes of the “family members”. Paul does not offer age ranges for “older men” and “young men”. Most of us, in other contexts, want to be considered a young man for as long as we possibly can. Notice, the weight of instruction and responsibility are on the older men. Which, since no one has yet found the fountain of youth, we will all be there at some point; therefore, it would be good to have as a goal a benchmark. Let’s break it down into parts.

Temperate— “marked by moderation” (Webster’s); the moderation indicates nothing extravagant and moderation in eating and drinking.

Worthy of respect— Notice it does not say, “Demands respect”. Very often as men we think that we have the right and ability to “demand” respect; which, yes, goes does give direction to children and wives to respond you. But, your part in that is to act “worthy” of respect.

Self-controlled— In any and all actions. Do you have the ability to control yourself; in your words, your temper, your vices, your entertainment, and other actions?

Sound in faith— Is there anything at all that could shake your faith? What might that be?

What are your key weaknesses in these specific areas? (write them down and write how you can and will work on them today)

REVIEW

How were you able to work on these key areas of weakness today?

How did this impact your day?