“But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1)

I will never forget the day. I was a young pastor and occasionally found myself thinking, “I wish we had talked about this situation in Bible school!” As I wrote, I will never forget the day a visitor to our church told me, “Don’t preach to us doctrine, just preach the Bible.” What a silly thing to say! I suspect that visitor is not too much different from many people that we will meet today. Paul instructed Titus to speak the things which were becoming to “sound doctrine.” The idea of “sound” means “to be healthy or not mixed with error.” The wonderful word “doctrine” means “instruction, or teaching.”  Paul’s admonition to Titus was to speak the things that aligned properly with healthy instruction from the Word of God. Recently I have been sick, and on one particular Sunday, I checked out the TV services. Repeatedly I heard a little bit of truth and a whole lot of error! Do we ever need the truth of Titus 2:1 today! When we preach the Bible, we are preaching doctrine!

For today: May my thoughts and words be checked by the clear teachings of God’s Word. Sound doctrine produces sound living.