Daily Devotion

“We would do well to think of the Christian life as the path of disciplined grace. It is discipline, because there is work for us to do. It is grace because the life of God which we enter into is a gift which we can never earn. … Remember, discipline in and of itself does not make us righteous; it merely places us before God. … The transformation that comes is God’s work.”

Richard Foster · “Discipline: We Can Live By It” (1982), reprinted at Renovaré

Scripture

Titus 2:11–12 For the grace of God has been shown to save all people and to teach us to put aside ungodliness and worldly desires and to live a self-controlled, righteous and godly life in this present age.

Reflection

We often think that spiritual life is a path from failure to success, so practice becomes pressure, and repentance becomes shame. But Titus reminds us that the starting point of change is not human determination, but the grace that God has already revealed. This grace is neither indulgence nor permissiveness, but rather "teaching us"—like a patient teacher, shaping our lives step by step in this world. We can say "no" to sin not because we have a stronger will, but because we have been accepted; we are willing to practice not to please God, but to respond to the love He has already given. Ultimately, spiritual growth is not about gritting our teeth and persevering, but about learning to obey in grace.