Adornments of Grace - by Sheldon Bass

…That they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.” Titus 2:10b KJV

Nearing the Christmas season, my wife, Becca and I climbed to our attic and sorted through the seasonal decorations stored there. We then enjoyed reminiscing as we looked through pictures of Christmases past. Family faces shone with comfort and cheer. A warm glow was cast from the colorful lights of the Christmas tree, beautifully adorned with precisely placed ornaments and silver garland.

Opening another box in the attic, I found those same ornaments, a few of which were now broken. Apparently those few adornments hadn’t been put back into their protective packaging.

As we read through the book of Titus, where Paul shows us what a life surrendered to Christ should look like, I came to the above verse, where God’s word discloses that we are to adorn our doctrine by the lives we live. I hadn’t considered myself as an ornament of beauty before, yet it’s a good analogy for what our lives are to reflect. We display the truth of our doctrine by our gentle and godly character and behavior. Christians are to be gorgeous ornaments, reflecting the beauty of godliness.

We realized that as with those Christmas decorations, we could sometimes do a better job of protecting our Christ-like character. Sometimes an ornament gets broken, yet in Christ, when we make mistakes we can be restored to wholeness, and become even more gorgeous than before.

The book of Titus wonderfully reveals areas in our hearts which may be in need of maintenance, and better protection. I hope you’ll take a moment to prayerfully read those three short chapters today.

Sheldon K Bass, Author: Meet Him on the Mountain. Contact