Paul is busy telling Titus how to lead the men and women to live within God’s will. Paul’s point of departure is that the younger people should learn from the older people. And this doesn’t mean that you first have to turn 50 before you can be an example for others. A high school pupil can be an example to a primary school learner. The student for the high school pupils. The young working people for the students. The young married people for the single ones.

Each of us has someone who is watching us. Each of us walks in front of someone else and they try and follow in our footsteps. That’s why it is so important that the example that we set should be a good one. When we get smashed, that is get drunk, it’s not easy for someone to follow us. On the contrary, they shouldn’t follow us, because we’re leading them in the wrong direction and we may be responsible for someone else tripping and maybe falling. Then that one is for our account.

So, this is the recommendation, and although Paul is talking to women here, it applies to us men too:

⁴By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives.

However, one word from older translations had remained untranslated, namely the word sōphronizō , which amongst others can be translated as “careful”: By looking at them, the younger women will learn to be careful …

And so you know, I suspect this word had remained untranslated, because this Greek word appears only once in the New Testament and they probably didn’t really know how to translate it.

The fact remains that we have to teach others through our way of living to be careful. And it’s not that easy, especially if it’s in your nature to jump in before testing the water. We often say things without thinking and the guards that we put up to prevent the words from slipping out are fast asleep. And usually the results are catastrophic.

With my actions I arrived at places where I shouldn’t have and the pain was hard to bear. And most often I had not been careful enough.

We can save the younger generation a lot of pain and hardship if we can show them what being careful is. And Paul is certainly not telling us to keep the younger generation back.

Don’t preach to them and be on their case all the time. As soon as they have turned their ears away because mom and dad have nagged too much, you will struggle to get something past their ears and eyes.

The proposal is to give them good advice. Don’t force it on them. Talk nicely to them and then pass the baton. I always say: Use it or lose it. Make of this what you will.

I notice my son is still busy on his phone late at night. Immediately, in my head I start laying down the rules about being on the phone late at night and taking it away and setting up a clear timetable of phone-free times.

Fortunately, I come to my senses. I rather have a conversation with him about screen time, help him and make suggestions about managing screen time correctly.

I suspect, and hope, that he will be more careful in future.

Scripture
Titus 2:1-5

Reflection
Do you just jump in too?
How can you be more careful?
Who do you have to show it to?

Prayer
Father, I must confess that being careful is not the first thing that comes to my mind. I rush in and do not set a good example for the younger people. Please help me with this and take my hand to think first and then act. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.