You must in all things show yourself an example of good deeds; in your teaching showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility

Marion Gilbert wrote this little paragraph, I thought it was worth sharing.
"One morning I opened the door to get the newspaper and was surprised to see
a strange little dog with our paper in his mouth. Delighted with this
unexpected "delivery service," I fed him some treats. The following morning
I was horrified to see the same dog sitting in front of our door, wagging
his tail, surrounded by eight newspapers.
I spent the rest of that morning returning the papers to their owners."
I know it seems like a silly little story, but what would you have done?
After all, you didn't tell the dog to bring all of those newspapers, it's
not even your dog! It's not your responsibility to get them back is it? At
the most, we might call the newspaper office. but to return all of the
papers ourselves, that's going just a little to far isn't it?

The apostle Paul wrote to the young man Titus in Titus 2:7, "You must in all
things show yourself an example of good deeds; in your teaching showing
integrity, reverence, incorruptibility."

Wow, that's difficult isn't is, "you must in all things show yourself an
example of good deeds. showing integrity." I think the point Paul is making
is that you never know who is watching what you do and how they will respond
to your actions. You see, that is part of "Showing ourselves an example." It
takes more than just saying the right words and proclaiming that we are good
people; we have to show by our example the stuff of which we are made. In
this context of course I am talking about living our life so that it's not
just our words that say, "I'm a Christian," it is our example also.

It is the little things in life that make a difference. You may never have a
dog bring you your neighbor's newspaper, but what about that clerk or teller
who gives you too much change or some other mistake made in your favor. How
will you respond then? What will your example say?
My prayer is that our God will give you a pure heart of integrity as you
walk through this life.

May He continue to bless and keep us all!

Russ Lawson