Titus 2 in Tennis Shoes

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A few weeks ago I did a review on the Nebraska Christian Home school Conference and I mentioned at the end of my post that I would do a little summary on the Titus 2 in Tennis Shoes workshop that I attended.  It has been on my heart to write a post about it…and one of my friends asked me if I was going to still write one…so here it goes.

Have you read Titus lately?  Good book…I always say that don’t I?  Well it is.  I attended a workshop presented by Gloria Wissmann.  She is a wife and a mother of 13 kids.  She focused her workshop on Titus 2…more specifically the women’s role in as the Bible lays it out.  I am going to copy and paste it at the end of this post in case you don’t have a Bible…(if you don’t…there are many free ones online).  This is the New King James version from:  http://www.biblegateway.com

Titus 2 is a great reminder for men and women as to how they should act in the world we live in today.  I hear time and time again that a marriage should be 50/50.  The wife shouldn’t have to listen to what the husband has to say and should be able to do as she pleases.  Wives should be strong and be in control of their families.  Men can’t “properly” lead a home.  My husband isn’t strong enough to make his own decisions.  You don’t know my husband…if I let him be in charge…things would be a disaster.  Times have changed…women are more superior!   Ever had anyone say these things to you?  I have!  Do you think this way?  What does the Bible say about these things?

It says that the young women should love their husbands and children…to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands…  older women should be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, teachers of good things…be good role models and guide the younger women.  More importantly the WORD OF GOD SHOULD NOT BE BLASPHEMED.  

I know a lot of people don’t care about what the Bible has to say…but as I am raising my girls at home my goal is to teach them to be good wives and mothers.  I want to teach them how to run a home.    If they don’t want to pursue a career where they need the credentials from a college, then I am not going to push them in that direction so they can waste their time (and money) and have a greater chance at getting lost in this world.  Trust me…college is a complete waste of time if you go…just to go for the experience.  (Off my soapbox now) and back to the workshop summary.  Gloria gave some great examples as to how she has used the direction from Titus 2 to help raise her daughters.  She has taught them how to properly run a house…cook…sew…cater to company…help care for other siblings…clean…

Along with the help from her husband they have worked to instill values and morals with their kids to have Christ be the center in their lives…and not the world.  They pray that their children will take what they teach them at home and continue to live for Christ when they grow up and leave the home.  Gloria’s husband Loren also did a great opening workshop on this exact topic.  He gave some alarming statistics…I should have wrote down the exact percentages…but he gave the results of a study conducted by the American Baptist Society saying that an extremely high percentage of college graduates, who were raised in a Christian believing home walked away from their faith.  

Our kiddos are young and we have a long way to go with them, but I pray that Sean and I will do our best to be good role models for our kids and demonstrate what Titus 2 lays out for how we should be.   Kids don’t just automatically learn how to be good wives and husbands.  They have so many outside influences that are trying to tell them how they should behave and act, that society often forgets that the parents…with guidance from what the Bible says… should be the ones that help instill the real values for them.  

Some Bible verses to chew on:

Ephesians 5:21-24: "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives , submit to your husband’s as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything."

Colossians 3:23:  "Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men."

1 John 2:15:  "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

And now for:

Titus 2:

Qualities of a Sound Church ¹ But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: ² that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; ³ the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— ⁴ that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵ to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.
⁶ Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, ⁷ in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, ⁸ sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.
⁹ Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, ¹⁰ not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.

Trained by Saving Grace
¹¹ For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, ¹² teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, ¹³ looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
¹⁵ Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.