Let’s think about our everyday lives and some of the ordinary things we do. Let’s talk through an ordinary day and make a list of the things we do every day.
EX: get up, shower, dress, quiet time, chores, school, eat, text, facebook exercise, play, watch tv, go to bed
Romans 12: 1 in The Message “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around life—and place it before God as an offering.”
Titus 2: 7 “In everything set them an example by doing what is good.”
“In everything”….when we are in a leadership role we think of ourselves as examples, but do we realize we are to be examples in everything…..in our everyday ordinary lives? Look through this list we made. Which of these areas is the hardest for you to be an example in? Perhaps there are several areas that need work. Does anyone want to share what they are seeing needs work?
Next Titus says we are to “set them an example”. Who? Them. Whose them? Everyone. The verses before this talk about older men, older women, young men, young women. Often we think we are to be an example to those we are leading or perhaps those younger than us, but God has a much bigger call for you, He wants you to be an example to everyone in everything!
Lastly, this verse tells us how to be an example, “by doing what is good”. That sounds pretty broad to me, what do you think of when you hear “by doing what is good”?
In Titus there are several descriptions of the character of different people and I noticed that nearly every description contained “self-control”. So perhaps the best way to be good is to be self-controlled verses being selfish or self-indulgent or self-seeking.
Let’s go back through our every day list and with each task describe what self-controlled looks like.
Now with this new perspective, let’s continue to be examples when we are leading, along with in our everyday ordinary lives, “in everything set them an example by doing what is good”.