Becoming Titus 2: What does it mean to be slanderes and addicted?

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Titus 2:3-5 NIV

³Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Thank you for stopping by to join in our our monthly discussion of what it means to become a Titus 2 woman. This month, we are focusing on one small portion of verse 3, asking the question, "What does it mean to be slanderers and addicted (to too much wine)?"

At first, the focus on this little portion may seem too simplistic, as we hunger to chew on more! However, it is the simple ordinary things that need our attention. It is not only the obvious and blatant sins that destroy our lives, and those around us. The subtle, culturally accepted sin causes as much destruction when left unchecked in our spirit.

God's instructions are very straightforward in this verse, no matter what translation we study.

Do not slander or be malicious gossips.

Do not be addicted or enslaved to wine. Don't get drunk.

Honestly, could any of us argue with these principles? No. But do we mess around with them? Yes.

We gossip, and sometimes maliciously. We speak out of turn, sharing another's story when we should keep our mouth shut. We accuse others publicly, especially in anger or frustration, when we ought to turn our thoughts and broken heart to the Lord for consolation. When we are behaving this way, we do not honor God or reflect His glory.

Slanderer comes from the Greek "diablolos," which translated in this verse "Designates what should not be the character of godly women." Another name for a woman that slanders is, " she-devils," derived from "the Devil, the nickname of Satan, so called because originally he accuses or slandered God in Eden. The Devil still slanders God by false and blasphemous suggestions...".

Do we want to be associated with God or the Devil? Our words reveal our allegiance.
When we slander, we maligned the Word of God. Simply put, we what comes out of our mouth communicates not only who we are but whose we are.

The challenge before us is to be carefully guarded with what we speak, when we speak it, how we speak, and to whom we speak. As my mom always said, "If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all." Better yet, Scripture admonishes:

Matthew 12:36-37 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.

Being able to speak is not license to speak. We must be bridled by the Lord and tempered by the Spirit to speak when prompted, and carefully guard our thoughts and our words!


The second portion of the verse instructs us to not become addicted to wine. Addicted comes from the Greek "doulos," which means "slave or enslave." In this particular verse, addicted means "to be hooked, given over to chronic use" as in the case of alcoholism.

It might be easy to dismissed this later portion, if we do not suffer from alcoholism and have been spared the pain of loving of an alcoholic. However, I believe God includes this warning because none of us our beyond becoming addicted. We are all susceptible and need to be guarded in how much we enjoy and even use alcohol. Like anything in life, we cannot use it in measure with accountability, we need to flee from it.

I am also convicted that while being addicted to wine has not been a problem for me, I can easily become addicted to other equally destructive things. Shopping. Approval. Food. Appearance. Spirituality. Blogging. Really, anything in our lives has the ability to master and enslave us. When we are owned by anything but God, our testimony is no longer communicating who He is but rather what we are enslaved to. Without adding to Scripture, I believe this portion can easily provide a warning to each one of us to take stock of our priorities and time investment.

What's enslaving us right now? Put it to death, my friend. Flee! Run to Jesus, who should be our only Master!

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Thank you so much for joining in today! Be sure to share your thoughts in a comment below and/or link to your posts!

May we grow together, intentionally this year!

By His Grace & Mighty Power,

Enjoy Our Previous Discussions
Jan ~ Beliefs about Titus 2 in Today's Culture
Feb ~ What does it mean to be reverent?

Join in Next Month
Apr ~ How do we teach what is good?