Good morning,
With all the talk about wars and weapons and who is in control, its important that those of us who are God’s children need to understand that the most important weapons in this battle are not things that explode but words that explain. Our Enemy is always doing his best to get people to misunderstand the words that God has given us to live by. His dictionary is based on his filter of negative lies and twisted logic. For example, in America, and in a lot of other countries around the world, there is a very powerful movement against respecting and obeying our political leaders. We are being taught that the powers of hatred and rebellion are what is needed if we are going to be able to live our lives the “right” way. His definition of words like submit and obey are only good words if we are the one in control of those around us. Our Enemy’s dictionary tells us one thing, but the God of the Bible tells us something totally different.
When Paul was writing to Titus he wrote, Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers.(Titus3:1) Here the word submit in a non-military way meant, "a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden”.(Strong’s) The Bible makes it very clear that rulers are there because he has placed them there.(Romans 13:1) The Bible is also clear that the Lord puts them there for his own perfect reasons. Paul goes on to say that believers, should be obedient, always ready to do what is good.(Tit3:1) That guideline is best understood when we realize that our Savior is also, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords.(1Tim.6:15) Because Jesus is King and Lord over all others, our first concern is that we be obedient to the one who has the most authority. So when we are faced with what seems to be a conflict between our earthly leader and our eternal leader, we are always free to do good as the Lord leads us in response to the situation. There the word “good” is what our Lord tells us is the right thing to do. As we have already seen, submission is a willing attitude as well as a willing action. Paul then adds two things we should not do and two things we should be doing. The Lord tells us that we, must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Name calling and reputation attacking, as well as fighting others, to force them to think and act like we think and act is not how our Lord handles difficult people. Instead, we should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.(Tit.3:2) When we are given guidelines like this it is clear that none of us can do this without the control of God’s Holy Spirit. The Bible is clear that this kind of life style requires a relationship with God that is genuine and a dependence on God that is a living and active faith that is based on, It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of Heaven's Armies.(Zach.4:6) Dear Lord, please help us to hear what you are saying and then learn to depend on your Holy Spirit for this kind of response to what we are living with today.
Titus 3:1 Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. 2 They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.
Roy Wisner
