Listen to today’s devo!

In every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. (Titus 2:10)

Expanded Passage: Titus 2:9-10

Someone suggested we need a rescue home for fallen words. If so, one of those words is “winsome.” I don’t hear it used very much these days. The dictionary says it means to be “generally pleasing and engaging, often because of a childlike charm and innocence.”

In these days of polarizing opinions that often pit people against each other in angry debates, we could use some winsomeness. Especially is that true if we are “teaching about God our Savior.”

I have known people—perhaps you have too—whose doctrines and beliefs were without reproach. Yet they came across with severity. Their attitude reminds me of a parent who points a finger at a child and shakes it as if to say, “You’d better be good or else!”

Jesus commended children with their simple faith and said we should be more like them (Matt. 18:3). Not childish, but childlike.

I also love the idea of being “pleasing and engaging.” The old adage says you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. You get the point. It’s like the little girl who prayed, “Dear Lord, help all the bad people to be good. And help the good people to be nice.”

Paul says in essence, “When you teach, be nice. Make the teaching attractive.” Our goal is to win others with winsomeness, not alienate them.

Ask God to help you be winsome today.

Ron McClung is a retired minister in The Wesleyan Church who enjoys writing and loves interacting with his large family.

© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.