that the older men be sober,
reverent,
temperate,
sound in faith,
in love,
in patience;
Titus 2:2
LORD Jesus, we praise You for You are all the things we so easily run out of. Without You there is no Hope! You do not only love us, but You are the very essence of Love. You are the God of Patience, too. Help us, O God we pray, that we may learn from Your Word what to do and how to follow in Your Footsteps. In Jesus’ mighty name we pray. Amen.
Before we begin with our study remember this is not just for the older men, but the aged women ought to do likewise as we are told in Titus 2:3. In other words, this is just as relevant for the women as it is for the men.
READ — Let’s read today’s verse again:
that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience;
ENGAGE — Think
1 What does the verse say that the older men should be like? (Copy/Paste – NKJV)
That the older men be
_____,
_____,
_____,
_____ _____ _____,
_____ _____,
_____ _____;
2 Do you know what the verses/phrases mean? If you want to dig deeper use a dictionary such as Strong’s to find out their original meaning. If you do not have a printed version of a dictionary go to one of the digital study tools like BlueLetterBible.org or E-Sword.net to do the word studies.
APPLY — Think: What is this verse telling us (members of the Body of Christ)?
Sober. We have to stay sober and cannot let alcohol rule our life. Let us stay alert, keep awake and be on our guard for possible dangers.
Reverent. In other words: serious and honest.
Temperate. As Matthew Henry comments, one who is temperate is one who governs well her passions and affections.
Sound in faith. We need to be genuine and grow in our faith more and more. This requires a daily renewing of our mind, not a faith which is only exercised on Sunday.
Love. This is what Jesus tells us in Matthew 22:37-40
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.
Patience. The original word hypomonē literally means “an abiding under” and is coming from hupo which means “under” and meno which means “to abide.” Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary explains that this original Greek word in general expresses patience with regard to things (not to people).
DO — Think: What (more) can we do?
Keep alert and honest even when life is going smooth — actually especially then. And whenever things do get tough remember that life at this side of the Jordan is only temporary.
Press on!