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Today’s Teaching

Better Than "Best Photo"

Claire Foxx (Associate Editor, Proverbs 31 Ministries)

Day: 15 | Plan: Titus 2025

Start Here: Titus 2:7-8

Key Verse: Titus 2:7 (ESV) "Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity ..."

Major Moment: Paul urged Titus to set a good example and teach with integrity.

As a teenager, I went through an America's Next Top Model phase. Honestly, it lasted longer than I'm proud to admit. Even more honestly, it was mostly compelled by envy, self-criticism, and a broken relationship with my body. Episode after episode, I watched aspiring models compete for "best photo," which the show's judges awarded to the woman they deemed most beautiful.

In today's scriptures, Paul told Titus to "be a model of good works." But thankfully, this kind of modeling has nothing to do with high cheekbones or runway walks; it's about the "integrity, dignity, and sound speech" of a faithful Christ follower (Titus 2:7-8).

The Greek word for "model" in Titus 2:7 is tupos, meaning an example, template, or pattern. If we dig deeper into the original biblical languages, it's fascinating that tupos is also closely related to the Hebrew word tabnith, which often referred to God's designs for the tabernacle or temple in the Old Testament.

God told His people in Exodus 25:9, "Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern [tabnith] of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it." Then He gave meticulous instructions for setting up lamps, curtains, altars, pillars, basins, tables, and all kinds of other holy furnishings for His dwelling place. Israel's house of prayer and worship was designed by God and for God with sacred intentionality.

Centuries later, Jesus revealed a new pattern for worship when He said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up ... speaking about the temple of his body" (John 2:19-21). And as Paul instructed Timothy to "be a model" in Titus 2:7, he had this holy renovation in mind. God now dwells within us as believers in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:16)! Both individually and together as His Church, we are the new tabernacle, the new temple, "the household of God" (Ephesians 2:19-22).

So what does that mean for our day-to-day lives? As gospel models, we live to reveal God's beauty instead of our own. Rather than competing against each other, we encourage each other toward "good works" and "sound speech," following the design of Jesus' life. Rather than posing for the approval of worldly judges, we demonstrate godly humility and servant-hearted love "that cannot be condemned." As long as we look like Jesus, there is "nothing evil to say about us" because there is nothing evil about Him (Titus 2:7-8).

When Paul said "show yourself" in Titus 2:7, he wasn't telling Titus to smile for the cameras or to make sure Christians looked good in Crete. He was urging the Church to have genuine faith that displays God's goodness. Many false teachers were outwardly "photogenic" while inwardly unfaithful (Titus 1:15-16); however, Paul emphasized that true believers are characterized by the integrity and dignity of a heart where God has made Himself at home.

After all, He is the only Judge who really matters, and He has already deemed us worthy of His love. "We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

Prayer: Lord, please make us into beautiful models of the gospel. Isaiah 61:10 says You clothe us in "garments of salvation," and we want to wear them confidently. Let our integrity and good works prompt people to ask us where we bought these holy robes, and let us joyfully answer that You bought them for us as a gift! Jesus paid it all. In Jesus' name, amen.