Titus: Paul's Partner And Fellow Worker In The Faith

As brothers and sisters in Christ, we should have each other’s trust. If you can’t trust, the folks you worship with who can you trust? Like Titus, we should be trustworthy; we should be deserving of people’s trust. How do we do that? The first “let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one” (Matthew 5:37). Simply put, just do what you say you’re going to do. There is no better way to build trust that to follow through with your promises. Remember the golden rule; “whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them” (Matthew 7:12). If your brethren know that you’re going to treat them in a kind way, the way you want to be treated, they will trust you more.

In addition, in order to build trust with others one must “look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4). By not only looking out for our own interest, but also for the interest of others, we become more Christ like (Philippians 2:5). People will trust those whom they know have their best interest at heart. Not only should we seek to be trustworthy like Titus but we also can learn to…

#3 - Be Patient:

If there was, anybody in the New Testament who needed a dose of patience it was Titus. He had to patiently deal with the contentious church at Corinth and above all he had to be patient with the liars, evil brutes and gluttons of Crete (Titus 1:12). From Titus we learn two things that we need to have in order to be patient with others:

Patiently Care for others: When Paul wrote Corinth commending Titus he said that Titus cared for them in the same way Paul did (2 Corinthians 8:16). Titus had a heart for the Corinthians. It’s hard not to be patient with someone you deeply care for. In the same way Titus cared for the souls of the Corinthians and wasn’t about to give up on them we too should be patient with those who are irritating, or slow to grasp the truth, or are just generally hard to get along with. Caring for them is the key to being patient with them.

Patiently give constant reminders: Paul was concerned with repetition. He instructed Titus to “affirm constantly, that those who believed in God should be careful to maintain good works” (Titus 3:8). In addition that Paul said, “Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to men” (Titus 3:1-2). Paul desired that Titus patiently teach sound doctrine by way of constant reminders of how Christians are to act. Too often, we lose our patience with others and quite teaching them because we grow tired of repeating ourselves. However, being willing to constantly remind someone is the second key to being patient with him or her. Titus was and so can we. Not only should we develop ourselves to be patient like Titus but we also can learn to…