God has been ministering to me for the past few months through the book of Titus about His intentions for us as women. With so many messages coming from the world through talk shows, magazines, commercials, and advertisements, it's hard sometimes to truly define who we are as women and how we should raise our daughters to behave and believe. Titus speaks to these issues, and provides an excellent blueprint of true Godly womanhood.Our study will be based on a radio series originally done by Nancy Leigh Demoss of Revive Our Hearts entitled God's Beautiful Design for Women: Living Out Titus 2:1-5. This series has been a source of confirmation, conviction, and restoration for me, and I am believing God to speak to and bless your hearts and spirits through His word as we examine:
•our mission as women, •our motivation to be different •why it's so important to be the kind of woman God wants Lesson 1 - World's View vs. Word's View of Womanhood Tonight we looked at two contrasting viewpoints of womanhood - one that the culture encourages, and one that the Bible outlines. We discussed a startling statistic shared by Nancy Leigh Demoss in her Titus 2 series: Eighty-four percent (of younger people outside the church) said, "We know a Christian personally." They said, "I'm not a Christian, but I know somebody who is." But of those who know a Christian, only 15% said that they can see any lifestyle differences in those Christians. Wow! That statistic really struck me. It made me think about my own life. Am I projecting an image to the world that makes them see the Christ in me? It's easy to get side tracked by the World's view of womanhood, because it's all around us. But what does that look like compared to the Word's view? We made a simple list to illustrate the differences. WORLD’S VIEW Speak your mind, have your say Sexy Life of the party Do what feels right Be “in the know” Career oriented, can do it all alone Driven to succeed WORD’S VIEW (Titus 2:1-5) Sober-minded, kind, submissive to their own husbands Dignified, pure Self controlled, reverent in behavior, not given to much wine Sound in faith, in love, in steadfastness Not slanderers Family oriented Concerned for the home Our first assignment was to do some background research on the book of Titus for next week's lesson. Scroll through the comments below to see some interesting facts shared on our Facebook page. Lesson 2 - Background of Titus In order for us to get a better understanding of the context in which Paul writes this letter, we are going to take a look at some of the background of what was going in during this time. Titus was a letter written by the Apostle Paul, known as a Pastoral Epistle. On a previous trip to Crete, Paul had begun to establish churches in the area; however, he was unable to establish the infrastructure or order for those churches. This was critical in not only the growth of Christianity in that area, but also in ensuring the longevity of the established churches. Paul understood that church planting, as we would call it today, was not only about quantity but quality. Much like the construction of a physical building, the success of any church is not in the number of its members, but in the strength of its foundation. This is what Paul has instructed Titus to do - build a firm foundation built on sound doctrine for these churches. Crete during this time was infamous for many unGodly practices and, sadly, many of these practices had begun to infiltrate the churches. A famous Cretan prophet was quoted as saying that "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons" (1:12). Paul wanted to be sure that none of these things were named among the Christians in Crete, particularly among those in leadership. As women, we must be mindful of our reputations at all times, but especially when placed in postitons of leadership. As choir directress, missionary president, women's ministry leader, and even mother to our own children, we have to be intentional about the way we portray Christ in everything we say and do - in our conversations, our tone of voice, our dress, the way we interact with others - everything. This is what Paul wanted Titus, this young pastor, to stress in the churches at Crete. And these words serve as an example for the churches today. Did you find other interesting information about the book of Titus? Scroll below to share and read what others have to say, or post your thoughts on our Facebook page. Lesson 3 - Believers and Unbelievers: How Can You Tell the Difference? With so many people referring to themselves as Christians, its sometimes hard for young people to tell the difference. Is it the way they speak? The way they dress? The things they do or don't do? We referred to the startling statistic in Lesson 1 that of the 84% of young people surveyed who say they know a Christian, only 15% say they can actually tell a difference. This is causing a mass exodus from the church by young people. In fact, according to Dr Noble of Summit Ministries, A massive 80% of young southern Baptists leave that denomination, with some returning in later life. Across all denominations the figure is believed to be around 65%. Young people, raised in the Church, who go to university, also leave the Church in droves and many never return. Titus 1 provides a "litmus test" that we can use to clearly tell the difference and let it show up in our daily lives. Titus tells us that unbelievers are disobedient, insubordinate, and rebellious. They are liars and deceivers, teaching what they ought not to teach. This is dangerous for many reasons, but especially because of the damage it does to marriage and the home. As a parallel for God's redemptive relationship with His bride, marriage and its sanctity are a critical foundation for all Christians. If the enemy becomes successful in his plan to destroy this biblical principle, the damage and consequences will be far reaching and devastating. Believers, Paul writes, are the complete opposite. They are truthful, obedient, submissive. Wives are submissive to their husbands, women are submissive to authorities. I know even as I am typing this that these notions may seem primitive and outdated, even be hot buttons for many of us. But the word of God is right, and it is true, and the precepts don't change just because we don't like them. Another characteristics or quality of believers is that they live by sound doctrine. We will dive into this more in our next lesson, but sound doctrine is teaching based on biblical, Godly principles. Titus provides very real, concrete ways that believers are to live out that sound doctrine in their lives. As women, we have to be conscious of our actions, words, and relationships because every encounter is an opportunity to show the difference sound doctrine makes in our lives, fueled by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. That's what makes the difference in our lives - the Spirit of God on the inside of us. It's the source of our power to make the kinds of choices that allow us to be the difference the world needs to see. Are you living that difference? Next week, we will be looking at the concept of sound doctrine. So the homework for next week is to answer this question: What comes to your mind when you hear the word doctrine? Post your answers below, or email them to us at ctpwordwithoutwalls@gmail.com. And don't forget that you can hear the lesson in its entirety using the player at the top of the page. Be blessed, and happy growing! Lesson 4 - Live the Life! For me, this study has just really heightened my awareness of ways that I have NOT been this Titus 2 woman. I have had several AHA moments since I started studying Titus and listening to Nancy Demoss do this series last year, especially when it comes to how I relate to my husband. The most recent incident was a few days ago, while we were discussing a program I spearhead at church every year. I went to him with one set of ideas and pretty much having everything figured out, but when I talked to him, it seemed like he shot down every idea I had! He didn’t really, but it felt like he was saying No a lot more than he was saying Yes. The funny thing is, I had just taught a sunday school lesson about the importance of submitting to authority in our lives. My husband is both my spouse and my pastor, so I got a double dose of humility with this one! He finally said, "these are not decisions that can be made in this car. We have to talk about this with the church, and go from there.” I took a deep breath as the sunday school lesson replayed itself in my head and my words came back to haunt me. I realized that he wasn’t the control freak, micro-manager that I was making him out to be in my mind – it was ME! This program was my baby, and I have a picture of how it should go in my head. And I didn’t want to let go of that! But in trying to argue my point, my voice was raising, my temperature guage was going up, and I was disrespecting him in front of my girls who were in the back seat. So I backed off. This is a HUGE step for me, and I know it’s only possible because of what I’m internalizing through this study. As we move on into Chapter 2, lets read the advice Paul gives in verse 1. "But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine." Doctrine means teaching. We live our lives by the things we've been taught. I was thinking about a song that an older mother used to sing at one of the churches we attended while my husband was in the military. The words are: "Be what you are, and live the life. God knows your heart, you can’t get by. He’s coming back, to judge the world. Be what you are and live the life!" Be what you are. What are we? Believers, saints, Holy-Ghost filled women of God. So, how do we “live the life”? Titus gives instructions on exactly how to do this, how to be a witness and a difference maker in our homes, jobs, communities, everywhere we are, that is still as fresh and relevant as it was when he wrote it all those years ago. I’d like to hear your thoughts on this series topic. Have you noticed any specific instances of stark contrasts between the world’s view of womanhood and the Word’s view? Have you had any Aha! moments, either through things you’ve seen or heard, or even in your own personal life? Post your comments below, or on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ctpword. And remember to click on the podcast at the top to hear this lesson in its entirety. Be blessed, and happy growing!
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