Session 5
What kind of example are you leaving?
From Titus: An 8-Day Devotional
Remember playing “Follow the Leader” in elementary school?
The premise was simple: Everyone walked around in a single file line, and whatever the person at the front of the line did, everyone who followed had to do as well. It was pretty simple when we were kids, but what about now?
The beginning of Titus 2:7 says, “In everything, set them an example by doing what is good…” It is easy to think about this verse in the context of a parent teaching a child or a pastor teaching his people. But all of us are setting the example for someone. Even if you’re the only Christian you know, you are setting the example for the non-believers around you.
The best way to set an example for what is good is to live a life fully submitted to Christ.
Too many times, we praise God on Sunday morning, but forget about Him the rest of the week. Paul, a leader in the early Christian church, was so committed to setting an example for what it means to love Jesus that he famously called himself “a slave of Christ Jesus” (Romans 1:1, NET).
When we’re so submitted to Jesus that we would consider ourselves slaves to His cause, it’s impossible to be hypocritical. Re-read Titus 2:9-10 putting yourself in the place of the slave and Jesus in the role of the master:
“Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.”
The best way to set an example for what is good is to live a life fully submitted to Christ. By doing so, people will see Jesus in us and be ready and willing to follow our lead.
Reflect:
- Think about the people who have been most influential in your spiritual life. How did they set an example for what it means to follow Christ?
- What’s one way your actions are setting an example for others?
- Is there anything you need to start doing or stop doing to be fully submitted to Jesus? What step can you take in that direction today?