My morning devotional time for the past couple of months has been spent working my way through Titus 2. One day I would read the book of Titus and the next I would read a lesson from God’s Beautiful Design for Women: Living Out Titus 2:1-5. (The Revive Our Hearts Ministry is a fantastic source for studies. Nancy Leigh DeMoss is gifted by God to convict hearts and show us how to apply Scripture.)

I’ve begun to read familiar Bible verses in a whole new light. Instead of reading them in the context of interacting with fellow Christians and the church body, I now try to read them as they would apply to my children, husband and home. All of a sudden new life is being breathed into Scripture!

I want you to give it a try. Read the following verses and think of how you can apply them specifically to your family. It will change your actions and your speech….oh, and it might sting a little too 😉

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.            Titus 2:7-8

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Colossians 3:12-13

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.  II Timothy 2:22-25

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.                        I Peter 4:8-10