Titus 2.10 commands we make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.
The purpose of this command is so that God’s people can participate in God’s work of making Him known throughout the world. The goal is not just that He would be known but that He would be loved by every person on the earth.
God wants His people to live such attractive lives that people around them feel compelled to know God so they too can love Him.
How are we doing?
If you were God would you use people to make yourself known? Frankly I don’t think His marketing strategy is very effective or very wise.
We have a history of not living as Jesus commanded with the result that the world is still unconvinced that God is good or that God is love. If I were God I would do something awesome on a consistent basis, drip marketing, to convince people that I exist and that I desire a relationship with them.
Instead God tells me, along with all of those who claim to be followers of Jesus, to love one another. This behavior He said would convince the world that we are His disciples and thereby attract people to Him like bears to honey.
Loving people is hard, especially the better you know them!
Marriage is tough, it takes a lot of personal sacrifice and denial to make marriage work well. Parenting is tough, it takes additional sacrifice and denial to focus on the needs of my children more than my own. Being a friend is tough, I am happiest when everyone does what I want in the way I want it done.
I don’t like to put others first or compromise my ‘rights’ so others can win. These things being true probably explains why I don’t have the world beating a path to my door asking me how to know the God of the universe Who loves me and has a wonderful plan for my life.
Jesus was attractive. Jesus told us how to be attractive. Deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. Serve others and don’t seek to be served. Lay down our lives for our friends. Live as one humble and gentle among others who are burdened and heavy laden with the troubles of this world.
Simple instructions to understand but immensely difficult instructions to follow if I want to be comfortable, first and right.
We all know loving relationships are our most important determinant for living a healthy and full life but making those relationships happen is really hard.
We need God to live more in us if He is going to be more attractive through us.
