Finding freedom in the Father’s gaze

We often treat the sudden exit of Ananias and Sapphira as a terrifying divine audit, yet it is actually the ultimate cure for our modern obsession with spiritual stage-management. Their tragedy was not a matter of a lightened purse but a heavy heart that was far too preoccupied with the fickle applause of the gallery. By pretending to be more holy than they truly were, they missed the profound rest of being fully known by a Father who sees every secret. When we finally stop performatively tidying the cupboards of our souls, we find a love that requires no filters.

The great Cretan makeover

The heart of the letter to Titus lies in that wonderful assurance that the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people and training us to renounce ungodliness. We often think of grace as a lovely, soft word, perhaps something we say before a Sunday roast, but St Paul describes it as a tutor or a trainer that helps us grow. In our daily lives, from the kitchen to the marketplace, we are invited to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour by living with kindness and integrity, making the Gospel look beautiful to a world seeking hope.

Titus 1:2 and the pre-temporal decree

Before the first quark flickered into existence, God’s salvific plan was already a finished masterpiece. Exploring Titus 1:2 and the outside-of-time-ness of the Creator, we find that our redemption is no divine “Plan B,” but an eternal decree of a God who cannot lie and whose love predates the universe.