When Paul closed his letters, he commonly mentioned various people and situations as if running through a mental checklist. People he hadn’t mentioned before, he named. Situations he hadn’t addressed, he covered. It’s as if he were summing up those individuals he loved and those issues he considered most important, then wrapping them into one final bundle. That was exactly what Paul did in his letter to Titus.

Here, in these concluding four verses, we read of what was close to the apostle’s heart and should be close to ours: the difficulties of life are easier to bear with friends at our side and with an attitude of encouragement and grace.

Titus 3:12-15

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