Jump Start # 1600

Titus 3:3 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.”

  Today marks another huge milestone for our Jump Starts. We have reached number 1600, which means there has been 1600 Jump Starts or articles. Unbelievable. This little journey started six years ago as a way to try to encourage the congregation I worship with. It has now exploded world wide. Our readership is at an all time high with just about 1250 subscribers and who knows how many others that are getting them from friends. We just published our 16th Jump Start book on preachers and preaching. I run into readers all the time now. It is remarkable how God has used something so simple to help touch the hearts of so many people. I have people now telling me, “You can never stop writing Jump Starts.” That’s encouraging, but we know someday this train ride will end. My dear friend Jim, who is now on the other side of life, would be calling me today if he was still with us. He’d ask me if there was still anything in the well to draw from. I’ll miss his call today.

Thank you for reading these. Thank you for sharing these with others. Thank you for the kind emails. I save every one. I have a folder full of them. Thank you, Lord, for using this simple morning exercise to encourage others.

Our verse today reminds us of the good that comes from God’s word. Sometimes we forget where we came from. Sometimes we are embarrassed of what we used to be like. God has changed us through His gospel. It’s not that we are simply going to church on Sundays, we are different. There has been a rewiring in our thinking and on the insides. Our natures have changed.

This is thought that is being discounted by progressives today. They want a person to embrace what they are and to believe that they cannot change. Instead of changing, they want everyone else to accept them as they are. Some in this camp, go so far as believing that a person is incapable of changing. So we have men dressing like women. We have foul mouths. We have hatred, prejudice and anger. That’s just the way we are, doesn’t cut it and this verse disproves it.

Look at this verse. It begins with, “for we also once were…” The “we also,” included the writer, Paul. The list includes foolish, disobedient, enslaved to various lusts, hating others. They weren’t nice people. We wouldn’t want them as neighbors. If you were “in” with them, it was great. But if you weren’t “in” then you were really “out.” They wouldn’t have anything to do with you. Hating others and enslaved to various lusts are two destructive behaviors and attitudes that separate and hurt others. We were. They are not now. Once, but changed.

The next verse begins, “But when the kindness of God our Savior and the love for mankind appeared…” They were saved. They were changed. They no longer thought that way. They learned not to hate others. They walked away from the lusts that enslaved them. They changed. God was patient with them and forgave them.

This one powerful verse reminds us of two central truths in the Bible.

First, we all have a past. We all have a story. We all have hurt others. We all have done wrong. We all are sinners. Some Christians seem to forget this. They act as if they have always been saints. Not true. They act as if they never crossed the line with God. They did. Maybe remembering where we came from would allow us to help others and make us stop pointing our fingers so much. The church has had a long history of judging others. There is a place for judging. God does not condemn all judging. But too often it is done to put others down and to make ourselves stand taller. “For we also once were…” Did you forget?

Second, we changed. It wasn’t on our own that we changed. It was through the kindness of God. This change wasn’t easy. Look again at some of these words. We were “deceived.” We thought we were right, but we weren’t. That’s hard to deal with. The light bulb comes on in your head and you realize that what you thought was right, wasn’t. You realize that you believed a lie. You were misled. You were deceived.

Paul also states, “spending our life in malice and envy.” This wasn’t a one time slip into wrong. They were spending their lives there. This was their life. Hatred raced through their veins. They hated Christ. They hated Christians. They hated the Gospel. But they changed. They no longer hated. They learned the truth. They obeyed the truth. They loved the truth.

Even after they changed, all these years later, Paul never forgot. He was forgiven, but there were scars. These scars allowed him to help others. It allowed him to understand others. One perception that outsiders have of Christians is that we are all perfect. We never make a mistake. We have always been perfect. Wrong. We stood exactly where this verse is. Each of us has a “for we also once were…” It may help others for you to tell them your story. How did you leave hatred and become kind, generous and loving? How did you get away from those lusts that you were enslaved to? Was it hard? Was it smooth? Did you stumble? This is not a “I’m better than you are,” situation. It’s a “I’ve been where you are. I know what it’s like. I’m a follower of Christ today. He changed my life.”

Financial expert Dave Ramsey does this everyday on the radio. He tells listeners that he was broke. He made big mistakes. He learned. He shares his financial story with all who will listen. You have your own story. It’s not financial, it’s spiritual. It may have been a moral mess. It may have been years spent in hatred and prejudice. It may have been foolishly following others. It may have been how deceived you were in false religions. But through the kindness of God, you changed. You are not like that today.

A person can change. There is hope. Instead of accepting sin, and believing that’s just the way I am, a person can become obedient to Christ and leave the wilderness of selfishness and deception.

Amazing Grace…I once was lost, but now I’m found. That’s the Gospel message. That’s your story. That’s my story. It’s not about us. It’s about the amazing God who loves us and never gave up on us. Where would we be today had it not been for the kindness of God? How many marriages would we have destroyed by now? How many years left on our prison sentence? How addicted would we be to some substance? Would we even be alive, had God not saved us? It takes effort on your part. It takes an honest and good heart. It takes a willingness to come back home as the prodigal did. He got up and he came. The father didn’t come out to the pig pen. We must get up and head home.

I once was, but now I’m not. People change. Allow that to happen. Don’t pour concrete around the past. Don’t give up on people. God didn’t. He took a hateful man and through change, allowed him to become an apostle.

God is good. He treats us better than we deserve.

Roger