Titus 3:14 (NIV)

“Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.”

Maybe at some level in your life, the Bible read like an epic fairy tale with tons of lofty concepts, stories and ideas. Too imaginative to be literal and specially understood. However, the deeper your relationship with God goes, the more practical and alive His Word becomes.

I consider myself to be an intelligent man, but too smart for my own good. I am the most analytical person you'll ever meet, that is to say, the enemy of practicality. My goals were lofty and unrealistic, but in theory, they made sense. This scared me, and with just cause! Although my love for God was present, there was no ground where my feet could be placed; thus, I floated without a motive and became unproductive.

So, what is the key to a successful and productive life? The answer: producing! The Word of God is very clear on this. The Apostle Paul indicated that there is a connection with “doing what is good” and having a successful (productive) life. That connection is both important and intriguing! The book of Titus is a letter from Paul to Titus (the leader of the church in Crete, Greece). In essence, Paul is telling the church that they must “do good” in order for them to live successful and productive lives. However, this raises some questions. How can people, who were once sinners, saved only by the grace of God, who were still struggling with sin achieve this? Since we have the same lot, what will it take for us to attain such success by doing good when we are born in and used to doing evil?

Romans 12:1-3

The passage in Romans noted above instructs us to transform from our evil ways to good ways, starting with the body as the spiritual act of worship and then changing your attitude. What is attitude?

Attitude: the willingness to express one's thoughts and emotions (feelings) on what they perceive

Perceive: understand or comprehend; to understand or interpret something in a particular way; a point of view.

Proverbs 23:7(a)

A man or woman are only the sum of their thoughts. Meaning, you are what you think! Your attitude dictates the type of person you are, either positive or negative. Most of us, even though at first we seem positive, inwardly are dealing with and are very negative people. Again, we are the sum of our thoughts. We are what we think and our attitudes dictate our actions. This is why “doing what is good” requires that we “transform by the renewing of our minds” or our attitudes.

Here are four signs of a negative attitude:

Laziness

Procrastination

Excuses

Complaining

These four attributes indicate that a person with a negative attitude may already know what the right or “good” thing is, however, they are prevented from doing what is good because of their perception. Some deeper issues may be present as well, such a rejection and fear. But these collection of scriptures are instructing us to examine ourselves, not only to see if we are aligned with the Word of God, but also to replace our negative with positives.

Here are four signs of a positive attitude:

Passion

Persistence

Drive

Commitment

These four attributes will cause you to be humble, work hard as to produce results and gain success. But the key word in this study is found in our text (Titus 3:14): Our people (Christians) must LEARN to DEVOTE themselves to doing what is good...” We must learn to commit! We must acquire the skill of commitment! We must be taught how to be persistent and consistent in doing good. Anything that we are consistent at will eventually end in success in that area.

Let's break it down:

Let's say your goal is to provide for your family. You need to put food on the table, buy clothes and pay bills. You need income. Thus, in order to get income, you find a job which gives you the means to buy the food, clothes, and pay the bills. When you get your check and upon payment at the supermarket, the Gap and the Gas company, you are successful because you set a goal and saw it through. Success takes planning and strict adherence and execution of realistic goals.

You can be successful at being a failure if you consistently set unrealistic goals, plan poorly, have a negative attitude, or fail to set goals. A man without vision can not have direction; without direction he is destined to nowhere! So many of us fail because we have no vision! We do because everyone else does! We don't commit because we have nothing to commit to! Therefore, how can we learn to devote ourselves to doing what is good? The bible urges us to commit ourselves to God “...as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable...” to Him. This means we must remain holy and acceptable. It is a life long commitment. We learn by practice, and through this practice our success becomes practical and in reach. But remember, the end result of your success begins with your attitude and perception. Replace your negatives with positives; replace laziness with passion, complaints with commitment, excuses with drive, and procrastination with persistence.