“To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men” (Titus 3:2).

No evil speech of anyone.

Oh my.

I wonder if my Spanish Bible will soften that somehow, maybe give me a bigger loophole for saying uncomplimentary-though-not-evil things of others.

“That they defame nobody.”

Gulp! That doesn’t make the loophole bigger — it outright closes it!

So I guess I’ll have to opt for gentleness and meekness in my speech about others.

That’s going to be tough.

For some reason, that reminds me of this:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 52:10).

God Himself, Creator of all and Sovereign over all, humbled Himself and then died.

For me.

Why?

• To redeem me from all evil
• To purify me for Himself
• To make me uniquely His own
• To give me a zeal for more good works

Two little clarifying notes:

First — in Spanish “a peculiar people” is rendered “un pueblo propio,” which translates loosely into something along the lines of “a people of His own” or “a people for His very own.” Thus, He died to make me uniquely (ie peculiarly) His own!

Second — I say more good works in recognition of the good work He already did in giving Himself for me.

“Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14).

May God help me to function according to the Lord’s purposes in giving Himself to redeem me in the first place!