Grace Trains Us
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ”
Titus 2:11-13 (ESV)
Devotional Reading
Grace is training us to be like Christ. Yes, it is actually possible my friends. It is the goal of the discipleship process, to mature us in our faithfulness until we are like Christ in every aspect of our lives.
The maturing process is not easy, but it is so worth it. It is worth any price we need to pay to achieve it. Do not get confused, I am not talking about saving yourself, Christ did that on the cross.
Grace trains us to walk in our salvation, to put on the new garments of right living, and to walk in power. But to walk in power we must rid ourselves of darkness. The struggle in our culture with yoga pants is not an external problem. Jesus teaches us that lust comes from within a man.
So if we allow it to have a home in us we will be drawn to it everywhere we go on earth. Grace trains us by giving us new appetites. Grace brings the healing power of the cross into our inner world so we can be whole and live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.
I often think of the red letters in scripture. Try to put yourself within those letters, imagine Christ himself challenging you over your weak faith. Imagine Him fashioning a whip and using it in the temple on people. That’s not the version of Jesus we like to keep alive in our minds, is it?
Grace is strengthening us to follow Christ and to become like him. This isn’t just theory, it’s a livable reality. It is not easy to follow Christ, but His grace is present with us to build us from within to become all that He says that we can become as we seek to do his will.
Action Steps
On a scale of 1-10 (1 being Poor and 10 being Great), how are you doing in your quest to live upright?
What areas is grace training you in right now?
