Titus 3:10 - Summer of Scripture

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Welcome to Summer of Scripture on the Naked marriage podcast. For 66 days in a row, we're releasing a short daily devotional for your marriage. Over these 66 days, we'll be sharing one scripture from each of the 66 books of the Bible and talking about how it applies to your life and marriage. Listen to all 66 episodes of these and you'll have a better understanding of God's Word and His perfect plan for your marriage. Let's dive in to today's scripture.

Welcome to day 56. We're in the Book of Titus today. Titus was another protege of the Apostle Paul. And so he's a young pastor that Paul is writing to, and he says this in Titus 3:10. If people are causing divisions among you, give a first and second warning after that have nothing more to do with them. So here's another direct warning from Paul about the certain kinds of people that we need to stay away from. And again, this seems almost like unchristian. Wait, there's certain people we're supposed to stay away from, but we do have to be wise and intentional about the people that are in our inner circle and the people that we're allowing to have a voice of influence in our lives because we're going to be impacted by them. And divisive people, divisive people that goes against God. There's a list in the Proverbs of things that God hates, actually things that God hates. And the seventh of that list, the one that is all building up to, are those that cause division and dissension among a family. And the church is the family of God. So people that are intentionally divisive, you just got to watch out for them. And we live in a world that rewards argumentative people. You know, social media you get online, people will argue for sport, and then they're celebrated for it. And we're told to be different. Now, that doesn't mean we don't engage in meaningful conversation and even debate. But we're not intentionally trying to go in there and just be divisive, especially among family and among the family of God.

Definitely and also, let's not be divisive people, you know, in ministry, you know, a lot of times if you, if you're in vocational ministry or if you're a volunteer where you're, you know, you're, you're heavy in kind of the day to day comings and goings of the church and planning different things, you're going to see all different sides of people. You do, because churches are made up of imperfect people just like any other place, you know, you go to. And sometimes, you know, in doing this work, you find people that are church hoppers and they'll tell you, they'll say, gosh, I don't know why, but every church I go to, there's just so much drama. There's so much drama. And I saw there's a great Instagram page that I follow, many of you might be familiar with it, it's called Raised to Stay. Raised to Stay and got great Christian information on there. It's awesome. But they had actually a meme today where it said, if you are the one who, at every church you've gone to, when somebody said, why'd you leave that church? And you say, because there was just so much drama. Then she was like, it had that Taylor Swift song, like, it's me. Hi, I'm the problem. It's me. And I was like, I was like, okay, the anti hero problem, it's me. I was like, oh my gosh, that's so true. And I think that all of us, we need to take a long, hard look at ourselves because sometimes we're just hurting. I don't, please don't misunderstand me in sounding judgmental in this because I think that any of us can fall into this if we're not careful. Cause we're hurting. And maybe we're just not walking through a good season. And we're just, we don't even realize how we're coming off, but we're just looking for the negative and somehow end up in these, you know, drama filled situations. We need to look at ourselves and be like, I think I might be the problem. Like, maybe it's me. I'm putting off some vibe of divisiveness and I need to take a step back and like, see why I keep going wrong here. Why is drama following me wherever I go? You know what I'm saying?

Exactly. Yeah. And we are, what are we the common denominator in. And if there's always drama, well, maybe because we're a little dramatic, you know, so we gotta watch out for that division and in your marriage, watch out for anyone that would cause any division within your marriage, Right? If you have a friend or your wife has a friend, or your husband has a friend who, whenever they're around that person, they come back and there's just this spirit of division because that friend is like happily divorced. And wanting your spouse to act happily divorced with them, that's so toxic. Guys, I'm not saying you can't be friends with someone who's single or divorced or anything. I'm just saying you've got to be so mindful of the mentality your friends have as it relates to marriage and as it relates to your marriage. Do they love you? Do they love your spouse? Are they for your marriage?

And.

And if they're not, then they have to have a very limited space in your life, if they have one at all. You need to surround yourself with people who will lock arms with you, encourage you, lift you up, lift up your spouse, challenge you, encourage you, and not do anything that's going to cause division between you and your spouse. And then you and your spouse together as a team, as a couple, make sure that you're unifiers as it relates to other people's marriages. Be somebody that that's trusted to help others, to be a safe place to get advice and not a gossip. Not a gossip. No. Gossip is so divisive and it's so toxic. And so we've got to be building people up. We've got to be unifiers in a world of division, a world of bridge burners. Let's be some bridge builders.

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100%. And it's just healthier. And I think where this gets complicated, though, is if it's a family member who's being divisive. But again, we've talked a lot about boundaries throughout this entire summer. You've got to put healthy boundaries in place. And I think especially, like, let's say it's your mom, and your mom, every time you talk to your mom, she wants to say something derogatory about your spouse. You gotta shut that down. And, you know, and I'm not saying like if it's a real concern, like you know, about an abusive situation or like some horrible concern, you know, I'm not talking about that, but I mean just ranting about your spouse, the way that he parents, the way that she parents, the way they cook the food. You know, like I remember I was like, I think it was a message from somebody. They said that every time that their in laws would visit their house, the mother in law would want to cook this huge meal like at their house. And she said, and she is this amazing cook. But she would do it in such a way that she tried to make this lady look bad. And she would bring her own place settings, linens. And she would say it's because, well, you just don't know how to set a table. You just don't know how to make a pretty tablescape. And I know that you just didn't grow up in a house where you guys value decor. So I'm going to do it. Just let mama Dean, you know, like, you know what I'm talking about. We know who these people are. And you guys, that mother is trying to show up. Yeah, it's a woman in her son's life and it's just so toxic. And so you know what they did, sweetie? And this was some advice that they followed through on. He was like, listen mom, I love you, but let us treat you at our house. We'll either take you to a restaurant if you don't feel like what we make at our house is good enough. But you're our guest, we don't want you cooking here. And he told her, he's like. And it's just, it doesn't seem to be done in a spirit of kindness. And he's like. And yes, you know, you're an amazing cook. Yes, you can decorate with the best of them, but this doesn't, it's our home, you know. And I think that that son laying down kind of that line in the sand. We talked about that boundary with his mom. I'm sure she didn't like it. I'm sure she didn't take it well. But she's, you know, risen the occasion. So I think we've gotta be willing to shut down that divisiveness and stand up for our spouse and our marriage.

That is so good. And again on these same issues, these same lines of those family and in law dynamics specifically we've got a brand new book available for pre order now. It's called Married into the Family. It's going to be out very soon. And it is so practical in helping you navigate those relationships.

Yes.

So, guys, I hope today's message was an encouragement to you. Join us tomorrow, day 57, where we will be in the Book of Philemon.