Tit 3:14 And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.
LEARN.
When you are born again into the Spirit, accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you aren't automatically transformed into someone else. There is often a newness of the love, the acceptance, the glory of being forgiven and given a new lease on a life that will be through eternity. Much as there is a newness in the relationships we form with each other.
If you're young you many not have experienced the amazing joyfulness of finding a mutual love with another person, but you've most certainly seen movies that seem almost fairytale-ish because of that new love excitement and thrill. It can be the same when you accept Jesus as your Savior, but the newness of ALL things wears off.
Automatically turning into a person who is loving, kind, even tempered, generous, charitable, sweet isn't something that is going to happen. The newness will wear away and you'll find yourself slowly giving into the negative traits you'd hoped were gone forever. Your temper will wear a little thin, you won't feel the desire to be extra giving especially if it's in a way that will put you out and keep you from doing other things you'd planned. When these traits resurface we'll feel the pangs of regret for them and that's a GREAT thing, because we know when we feel those pangs it's time to seek forgiveness and repent.
Christians are not given special knowledge, special powers of their own. If Christians were changed into perfect beings then they wouldn't need to be given these words- 'let ours also learn' - because they'd know already, right? Maintain good works would be automatic to them. But the truth of the matter is, we are changed spiritually- taken from a state of spiritual death, to a state of spiritual life through our Savior. And our instructions for daily living are many, they are varied, and they are constant. The truth also is that we need to learn to walk in our new spiritual life. It's all too easy to not learn because we get stuck on believing we simply are what we are, and our working to learn is bad because we get caught up in thinking we once again working for salvation which isn't true!
We are told that we need to LEARN to maintain good works for necessary uses so we are NOT unfruitful.
We must LEARN and in learning live as those who have learned. When you've learned how to talk you don't unlearn it but keep on talking the rest of your life. When you've learned how to do things you will get to a point where you are done learning because then you know how to do those things. We need to LEARN how to maintain good works and once we've learned then we will be fruitful in the work of our Lord.
Can we learn to be 'better' people than we are? Can we learn to be unselfish? Can we learn to be more even tempered? It is possible, and we can learn best through our SAVIOR and His word!
WE can learn, we must learn and our teacher is Christ.
If you read His word and know How He wants you to be and you're not- then you know you need to learn to be as He will you to be. We have to do our part in this learning, and that might mean studying over and over, more and more. The learning might entail a lot of practice, constant practice in fact. This is a learning process that will go on and on for us and we need to live for our Teacher, live for His teaching.
ALL by HIS GRACE.
LEARN.
When you are born again into the Spirit, accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you aren't automatically transformed into someone else. There is often a newness of the love, the acceptance, the glory of being forgiven and given a new lease on a life that will be through eternity. Much as there is a newness in the relationships we form with each other.
If you're young you many not have experienced the amazing joyfulness of finding a mutual love with another person, but you've most certainly seen movies that seem almost fairytale-ish because of that new love excitement and thrill. It can be the same when you accept Jesus as your Savior, but the newness of ALL things wears off.
Automatically turning into a person who is loving, kind, even tempered, generous, charitable, sweet isn't something that is going to happen. The newness will wear away and you'll find yourself slowly giving into the negative traits you'd hoped were gone forever. Your temper will wear a little thin, you won't feel the desire to be extra giving especially if it's in a way that will put you out and keep you from doing other things you'd planned. When these traits resurface we'll feel the pangs of regret for them and that's a GREAT thing, because we know when we feel those pangs it's time to seek forgiveness and repent.
Christians are not given special knowledge, special powers of their own. If Christians were changed into perfect beings then they wouldn't need to be given these words- 'let ours also learn' - because they'd know already, right? Maintain good works would be automatic to them. But the truth of the matter is, we are changed spiritually- taken from a state of spiritual death, to a state of spiritual life through our Savior. And our instructions for daily living are many, they are varied, and they are constant. The truth also is that we need to learn to walk in our new spiritual life. It's all too easy to not learn because we get stuck on believing we simply are what we are, and our working to learn is bad because we get caught up in thinking we once again working for salvation which isn't true!
We are told that we need to LEARN to maintain good works for necessary uses so we are NOT unfruitful.
We must LEARN and in learning live as those who have learned. When you've learned how to talk you don't unlearn it but keep on talking the rest of your life. When you've learned how to do things you will get to a point where you are done learning because then you know how to do those things. We need to LEARN how to maintain good works and once we've learned then we will be fruitful in the work of our Lord.
Can we learn to be 'better' people than we are? Can we learn to be unselfish? Can we learn to be more even tempered? It is possible, and we can learn best through our SAVIOR and His word!
WE can learn, we must learn and our teacher is Christ.
If you read His word and know How He wants you to be and you're not- then you know you need to learn to be as He will you to be. We have to do our part in this learning, and that might mean studying over and over, more and more. The learning might entail a lot of practice, constant practice in fact. This is a learning process that will go on and on for us and we need to live for our Teacher, live for His teaching.
ALL by HIS GRACE.
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