Titus 1 Lesson

INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF TITUS

Titus is only three chapters.

It was written by Paul in AD 63 after his first Roman imprisonment.

We can tell from the letter that Paul is very fond of Titus, whom he calls his:

• “True child in a common faith.” - Titus 1:4.

At the time of Paul’s letter, Titus was in Crete preparing to appoint elders.

• “For this reason, I left you in Crete, that you might set in order what remains, and appoint elders in every city as I directed you.” – Titus 1:5.

Crete was a troubled city with:

1. Many rebellious men,
2. Empty talkers,
3. And deceivers.

This was of significant concern to Paul who wrote that these people: 

• “Must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach, for the sake of sordid gain.” - Titus 1:11. 

PAUL’S ENCOURAGEMENT

Knowing how hard the road ahead for Titus was about to get, Paul encouraged Titus to do three things:

1. “In all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech, which is beyond reproach, in order that the opponent may be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.” – Titus 2:7-8,
2. “Speak and exhort and reprove with all authority.” – Titus 2:15,
3. “Speak confidently, so that those who have believed God may be careful to engage in good deeds.” – Titus 3:8.

Paul understood that all of us are sinners. He wrote about this in his letter to the Romans:

• “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” – Romans 3:23-24.

Paul also understood that in order to grow our faith, we need to read the Bible (Romans 10:17).  And as our faith grows, we need to mature spiritually and do a better job of avoiding sin.

Paul talked about this in the following two scriptures:

1. “When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.” – 1 Corinthians 13:11,
2. “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.” – Titus 3:3.

THE HEART OF A SERVANT

Paul was committed to serving others and would often put others’ needs ahead of his own.

He was following the example of Jesus who said:

• “Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” – Mathew 20:26-28.

Like Jesus, Paul had the heart of a servant.

So should we!

Jesus said:

• “Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” – Mark 10:43-45.

The more we take on the heart of a servant and follow Jesus, the more pleasing we are to God.

SERVING OTHERS

The Bible is full of scriptures that show us the importance of serving others, including these three:

1. “As each one has received a specialgift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” - 1 Peter 4:10,
2. “In everything, I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” - Acts 20:35,
3. “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through loveserve one another.” - Galatians 5:13-14.

SERVANT LEADERSHIP IN THE SECULAR WORLD

The principles of servant leadership have made their way into the secular world. 

Smart businesses are finding out that applying Biblical principles to the workplace often produces great results!

When leaders take the focus off of themselves and seek out ways to encourage and develop those around them, the result is that people become:

1. Happier,
2. More engaged,
3. More successful,
4. More fulfilled.

In an article entitled, “The Art Of Servant Leadership,” Mark Tarallo made the following five points:

1. “If a manager is not spending at least twenty-five percent of his or her time developing future leaders, then you're really not fulfilling your responsibilities as a leader,” 
2. “Successful servant leadership starts with a leader's desire to serve his or her staff, which in turn serves and benefits the organization at large,” 
3. “Servant leaders build relationships with staff primarily by listening closely and by asking many questions,”
4. “In many ways, encouragement is the hallmark expression of a servant leader,”
5. “Trust is both a defining characteristic and defining outcome of servant leadership.”

The scripture that these principles are founded on can be found in Paul’s letter to the Philippians:

• “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” – Philippians 2:3. 

CONCLUSION

Paul was exceptional at looking out for other people!

He did an amazing job of encouraging and teaching those around him who may have been younger, or less experienced.

His letters to Timothy and Titus are beautiful examples of that.

At his core, Paul was a servant leader devoted to two things:

1. Glorifying God,
2. Serving others.

As Christians, we need to devote ourselves to these two things also.

We will end today’s lesson by looking at the following scripture, written by Paul as he knew his time on earth was coming to an end.

These are the same that we want to be able to say at the end of our lives:

• “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” – 2 Timothy 4:7-8.