Gospel Reflection
When I read Paul’s letter in his Epistle to Titus, I don’t hear abstract theology floating in the clouds. I hear a pastor trying to steady a fragile church. Paul had recently left Titus in Crete, a place known for moral confusion and instability, and the believers there were young in the faith. This letter should read like course correction, not idealistic theory.
Paul warns Titus (and us) that false teaching isn’t always loud or obviously heretical. Sometimes it can sound deeply spiritual. It quotes Scripture. It carries confidence. And yet, slowly, it hollows faith out from the inside. What Paul is really concerned about isn’t just bad ideas, but broken integrity.
This line always stops me and beckons me to ask this question of myself. But, this isn’t about Christians who sin and repent. That’s normal, and it’s a healthy practice of following Jesus. This feels different. Like it’s more about a settled contradiction, a widening gap between what we confess and how we actually live. The old theological words are orthodoxy (right belief), and orthopraxy (right living). In Scripture and for Paul, it is obvious they belong together. When they drift apart, the gospel itself gets distorted.
Lent invites us, not into shame, but into honesty. Paul’s words press a quiet question into our own hearts: Where might my faith be fluent but unformed? Where do I speak the language of Jesus yet find my reactions shaped more by pride, resentment, the silly need to win, or even worse, need to look better than I really am?
Holiness in Scripture isn’t about looking religious. It’s about wholeness. It’s about a life where belief and behavior belong together. “To the pure, all things are pure,” Paul says (1:15), but when the heart is off, even good things get twisted. More rules won’t fix that. Only renewal from the inside will.
And here is the grace in all of this: Jesus does not shame me into holiness. He actually restores me to it. Purity isn’t something I manufacture by trying harder. It’s something the Spirit patiently forms in me as I return to Christ again and again and again.
During this season of Lent, what would it look like to have our lives say what our lips so easily confess? Are there any actions we need to repent of before the Lord where we have failed at this? Ask God to consecrate you into Christlikeness in this season of Lent.
Paul warns Titus (and us) that false teaching isn’t always loud or obviously heretical. Sometimes it can sound deeply spiritual. It quotes Scripture. It carries confidence. And yet, slowly, it hollows faith out from the inside. What Paul is really concerned about isn’t just bad ideas, but broken integrity.
“They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him” (1:16).
This line always stops me and beckons me to ask this question of myself. But, this isn’t about Christians who sin and repent. That’s normal, and it’s a healthy practice of following Jesus. This feels different. Like it’s more about a settled contradiction, a widening gap between what we confess and how we actually live. The old theological words are orthodoxy (right belief), and orthopraxy (right living). In Scripture and for Paul, it is obvious they belong together. When they drift apart, the gospel itself gets distorted.
Lent invites us, not into shame, but into honesty. Paul’s words press a quiet question into our own hearts: Where might my faith be fluent but unformed? Where do I speak the language of Jesus yet find my reactions shaped more by pride, resentment, the silly need to win, or even worse, need to look better than I really am?
Holiness in Scripture isn’t about looking religious. It’s about wholeness. It’s about a life where belief and behavior belong together. “To the pure, all things are pure,” Paul says (1:15), but when the heart is off, even good things get twisted. More rules won’t fix that. Only renewal from the inside will.
And here is the grace in all of this: Jesus does not shame me into holiness. He actually restores me to it. Purity isn’t something I manufacture by trying harder. It’s something the Spirit patiently forms in me as I return to Christ again and again and again.
During this season of Lent, what would it look like to have our lives say what our lips so easily confess? Are there any actions we need to repent of before the Lord where we have failed at this? Ask God to consecrate you into Christlikeness in this season of Lent.
Practice of the week
A Practice to Love God: Fast from something.
Choose one thing this week to fast from — something that distracts, dulls, or distorts your attention. It may be food, social media, constant news consumption, or a habit that you may turn to to numb rather than truly nourish yourself. Let its absence be like that of a small notification that calls you back to prayer.
When you feel the pull toward it, pause and pray:
“Lord, purify my loves.” and “Jesus, you are the bread of life, be my daily bread, today.”
A Practice to Love Neighbor: Share one meal with others.
Holiness is never merely private. Share one intentional, unhurried meal this week with someone in your proximity of life. Listen well. Practice presence. Hospitality grounds faith in love and reminds us that truth is always relational. Love your neighbor as Jesus loves them.
Choose one thing this week to fast from — something that distracts, dulls, or distorts your attention. It may be food, social media, constant news consumption, or a habit that you may turn to to numb rather than truly nourish yourself. Let its absence be like that of a small notification that calls you back to prayer.
When you feel the pull toward it, pause and pray:
“Lord, purify my loves.” and “Jesus, you are the bread of life, be my daily bread, today.”
A Practice to Love Neighbor: Share one meal with others.
Holiness is never merely private. Share one intentional, unhurried meal this week with someone in your proximity of life. Listen well. Practice presence. Hospitality grounds faith in love and reminds us that truth is always relational. Love your neighbor as Jesus loves them.
Community Prompt
- Practice fasting as a small group, family or couple. To learn more about fasting click here.
- Confess sin to one-another, repent, and ask forgiveness in a trusted community. “Confess your sins to one-another, and pray for one-another, so that you may be healed” James 5:16.
Prayer
To learn more about prayer, click here.
God of truth and mercy,
Search my heart and show me where my words and my life are misaligned.
Cleanse what has become mixed, distracted, or divided.
Guard me from a faith that is loud but hollow.
Form in me a heart that is sincere, humble, and whole.
As I walk this Lenten path,
teach me to love what You love
and to live a life that reflects Your grace.
Make me faithful, even more than successful.
Pure, even more than impressive.
And fully whole in Christ.
Amen.
God of truth and mercy,
Search my heart and show me where my words and my life are misaligned.
Cleanse what has become mixed, distracted, or divided.
Guard me from a faith that is loud but hollow.
Form in me a heart that is sincere, humble, and whole.
As I walk this Lenten path,
teach me to love what You love
and to live a life that reflects Your grace.
Make me faithful, even more than successful.
Pure, even more than impressive.
And fully whole in Christ.
Amen.