“In every way making the teaching about God our Savior attractive.” Titus 2:9–10
Lord Jesus, the Gospel is attractive all by itself—in fact, it is stunningly beautiful. So, I know you’re not calling us to dress it up, dumb it down, or downplay its demands. The obvious heartbeat of this admonition is for us to have great zeal to reveal the beauty, goodness, and truth of the Gospel, and to be equally passionate about not hiding, distorting, or soiling it’s wonder.
So how do we adorn the Gospel? By seeking to do all things “in line with the truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:14)—that is, to think and speak, act and react, spend and “be spent” as those who belong to you, Jesus. There is no greater honor, joy, and peace.
This isn’t a life of performance, but of praise—not a life of “Have I done enough?” but a life of “How can I love you more?” When we most easily sing “Beautiful Savior! Lord of all the nations! Son of God and Son of Man! Glory and honor, praise, adoration, now and forevermore be thine.” (Fairest Lord Jesus), then we most readily live and love to your glory.
What will this look like, Jesus? Very practically, we won’t have less to repent of; we’ll just repent quicker. We’ll throw less criticism-grenades and be more generous with thanks and encouragements. We won’t enter conflicts to win decisively, but to love faithfully.
We won’t take things as personally but will take our “in-Christ-ness” more seriously. We’ll remember the Gospel 10,000 times better than people’s failures, what we don’t like about the world, and where we parked our car. Jesus, life is too short and heaven is too close not to love you more than anything and anyone. So Very Amen.
