This transcript was generated by whisper.ai. Hi, this is Pastor Tom, and last week we began to look together at this book that talks about how you and I can live effective, impactful lives for Jesus Christ. Last week we talked about the fact that we need to be selective, selective in the way that we live our lives, but also selective in the kind of leaders that we follow. This week, as we talk about living a life of impact, we're going to talk about how you and I can be attractive. There's a lot of interest in being attractive. You have it yourself. I mean, did you look in a mirror today? I mean, just honestly, did you look in a mirror even once? Looking in a mirror says we've got some interest in that on the outside, but how about from the inside out? In this chapter, we're going to see that Paul speaks on Titus' behalf to individuals, groups of individuals, about how to be truly attractive. He talks to the older, to the younger, to the men, to the women, and to all of them he begins with this foundation. The foundation of being truly attractive is truth. It's the truth of God. Truth is attractive. When I see truth, it is attractive. It draws me in. When I see it in a person's life, it attracts me to that person's life. So that's why in Titus 2, verse 1, Paul begins by saying you must teach, Titus 2. 1, you must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. In chapter 1, he said to Titus, you need to hold to sound doctrine. In chapter 2, he says you have to teach sound doctrine, and again, it has the definite article in front of it. It's the sound doctrine. It's a specific body of truth. It's the word of God. It's scripture. You've got to hold on to the truth. You need a foundation of truth in your life. And so as we head into this chapter that's all about attractively living out the truth, I want to begin by talking about the foundation of God's truth in our lives. You know that I've written, along with Kay Warren, a study called Foundations that here at Saddleback, if you haven't taken it yet, it's something we encourage everybody to do. If you're somewhere else in the world and in another church, we still encourage you to be a part of it because it's about the foundation of the truth in our lives. And in that study, we start out by talking about why do you learn doctrine? He says you must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine here. For a lot of us, the word doctrine is a word that means boring. Doctrine means I'm going to tune out right now because this has nothing to do with my life. If you think that's what doctrine is, what you're thinking of is the arguments that we sometimes have over doctrine. And that's exactly what Satan wants us to do. He wants us to think that doctrine is boring. He wants us to think that it's something to argue about because that's not at all what doctrine is. Doctrine, sound doctrine, is where true life comes from. Doctrine, sound doctrine, is where you become truly attractive, where you become truly free in your life. Why do you and I learn doctrine? Paul says you've got to teach it. That means I've got to learn it. Why do I learn it? Let me just go through with you a few reasons why. I learn doctrine because, number one, I'm commanded to. John Timothy 2. 15 says, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth. " God commands us to know His word, to know His truth. Now, we could stop right there. God commanding is enough, but the Lord always does more than that. He not only says, "Do it," He tells us why to do it. So why do I need to learn doctrine? Second reason is because doctrine, knowing the truth about God, helps me to know God better. J. I. Packer once said, "We are cruel to ourselves when we try to live in this world without knowing the God whose world it is and who runs it. The world becomes a strange, painful, disappointing place when we don't know God. " Now that quote from J. I. Packer reminds me that knowing the truth about God changes everything. Changes everything. And if I'm going to get to know God, I've got to get to know the truth about Him. Knowing God can't be based on my guesses or wishes. It has to be based on solid truth. God has made all of us for His purposes, and yet sometimes we miss those purposes. You were not made, primarily, you were not made to have a successful career. I hope you have one, but that's not the primary reason you were created or to produce wonderful children. I hope you have wonderful kids. That's not the primary reason you were created. You weren't created primarily to write great books or to solve all the injustices in the world or to make a lot of money. You and I were made to know God and to love God and to be loved by Him. And knowing the truth helps me to live out that primary reason for which I was created. Why do I need to know the truth? I'm commanded to. It helps me to know God better. Doctrine also, number three, it feeds my soul. I don't know if you've ever gone on one of those liquid diets. If you do, in just a few days, you'd sell your firstborn child for a carrot, anything with some crunch in it. You just hunger for solid food. That's a sign of maturity. Babies don't do that. They'll eat baby food for a year, but you need solid food to sustain you. Doctrine is solid food for your soul. I could call it soul food, but you'd laugh or you'd groan or whatever. It's solid food for your soul. Paul says in 1 Timothy 4, 6, in pointing out these things to the brethren, you'll be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of faith and on the sound doctrine which you've been following. It's important to realize that the nourishment of our soul is not automatic. We have to choose to eat this solid food. You have to chew for a while on some of the truths of the Bible in order to understand them. In Hebrews, we're warned very clearly that if we don't decide to dig into God's Word, we will remain baby Christians the rest of our lives. Baby Christians are believers. They seem to have so many needs, they can never meet the needs of others. I want to grow beyond that. You want to grow beyond that. It takes doctrine to do that. Why is doctrine important in our lives? Sound doctrine that feeds my soul, it does some other things. Sound doctrine helps me to serve others. Sound doctrine protects me against error in my life, devastating error sometimes. Why is it so important to know the truth? Because the Bible says how I think determines how I act. Proverbs 23, 7 says, "For as he thinks within himself," as a man or woman thinks within himself or herself, so is he, so is she. Beliefs determine behavior. Thoughts result in actions. If I were to tell you that I'd somehow gotten a friend to come over last night and tape a $100 bill somewhere in your car or somewhere in your house, you would check everywhere in your car. You would check everywhere in your house. If you believed me, you would. Let me just stretch that a little bit, that illustration. We live in a world that says, "Here's where the $100 bills are. " We spend our lives trying to find fulfillment, satisfaction, life fulfillment in our job or our vacations. We try to find it in our image, we try to find it in our comparisons, and we're searching under the seat to try to find the $100 bill, and we just keep coming up with old bubble gum and old wrappers. The world lies to us. But the amazing thing is we keep going back to the bottom of that chair or the underside of our car again and again. You'd think we'd learn the first time. Our beliefs determine our actions. You cannot change the way you act without changing the way that you believe. And God's truth, changing the way you believe, changes the way you act. It's going to change the way you parent. It's going to change the way you work. It changes the way you handle your business. It changes the way you think about your future and your past. It changes you. Why do you focus on doctrine? Not the boring kind, the arguing kind, but the truth kind, biblical doctrine. Not human doctrine or human ideas about doctrine, but God's doctrine. Why do you focus on it? Because it's the essential foundation for life. We all build our lives on a foundation that guides the decisions that we make and the directions that we take. And sometimes we try to build our life on the foundation of the opinions of others. But we get a lot of differing opinions. Sometimes we try to make our feelings our foundation. Do I feel like doing it? That's a very popular foundation. Well, I don't know about you. Sometimes I feel like doing the wrong thing. Sometimes I just don't feel like doing the right thing. Do you ever feel like that? Sometimes we try to build on the foundation of traditions. It worked for somebody else, so maybe it'll work for me. The only foundation that's strong enough to build on is this knowledge of God, sound doctrine. Just as you have to know your ABCs before you can read and write, you have to know the truth about God before you can live right. You know that old phrase, ignorance is bliss? It's not true. It is not true. If I drive through a town going 55 and get pulled over by a police officer who tells me I didn't see the 35 mile per hour sign, ignorance is not bliss. I'm still going to get a ticket. If I see a bottle marked "Strict 9" in my cabinet and decide it would be a good flavoring for a chocolate cake, my ignorance would take my life. Ignorance can put us at risk. And ignorance of God's truth, it is extremely dangerous. Our joy is at stake. Your family is at risk. Your place in eternity is at risk. Building a good foundation, knowing the sound doctrine of God's word, it takes time. And to be honest with you, sometimes it's tough work. To build a foundation, you've got to get down and dig. I honor you for listening to Rive Time Devotions. It says I'm trying to dig into God's word. I want to get God's truth into my life. You're saying I'm willing to dig in. I'm willing to do the tough work. I want to build a lasting foundation in my life of God's truth. It's the kind of foundation that Jesus talked about. In Matthew 7, end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock. And the rain came down and the streams rose and the winds blew against that house, yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. " Now, did you notice what Jesus said? The two things that that foundation is built on? Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice. What's the foundation built on? Hearing the word and then putting it into practice. If you just run out and try to start living putting into practice without hearing it first, how do you know what you're doing? First, you've got to hear it. But if you just hear it, you spend all your time hearing it and never do anything about it, what difference does it make? You also have to do it. It takes both. It's all too easy to have what I like to call sometimes a three little pig's faith. You remember that story, the pig that built his house with straw and with the one that built with wood and the one that built with brick? We build our lives with the straw or the sticks of our own ideas and emotions. It's just easier. It's just quicker to do it that way. But then the troubles of life, they inevitably come. They huff and they puff and they blow our lives down, our faith down. Now, I don't think you should get your theology from fairy tales, but in this case, I recommend the brick. I recommend the solid foundation. I recommend God's truth. In Titus chapter 1 and Titus chapter 2, both chapter 1 and chapter 2 start with the value of this truth. In Titus chapter 1, he says, "I've been sent to bring faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows us how to live godly lives. " Paul says, "I do it in chapter 1. " And now in chapter 2, he says, "To Titus, you do it too. You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. " And what he said in Titus chapter 1, there's two important facts. First you have to live the truth, but you also have to know the truth. You have to know the truth to live the truth. You wouldn't expect to like pick up a trumpet and know how to play it. You'd have to learn. And it's the same with God's truth. You and I cannot keep God's command to live the truth unless we, as you are right now, we take the time to learn the truth. And out of that learning, then we start to live. He'll take some work. It won't be easy, but the work will be worth it. You will never regret it because you're building towards eternity. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you. Thank you for sending your Son, for giving your Word so that we can know the truth about you, know the truth about your world, know the truth about ourselves. Jesus, I want to love your truth. I desire to be a person who knows how to live your truth. And so I commit myself to give my heart, to give my time to learning your truth. In your name I pray, amen. Tomorrow, we're going to begin to look at how God's truth impacts each of our lives in individual ways.