I did not take you with me when I went away from Crete, so that you might do what was necessary to put things in order there, placing men in authority over the churches in every town, as I said to you;

let the instruction that you give be sound and above reproach, so that the enemy may be ashamed when he fails to find anything bad to say about us.

For there was a time when we also were deficient in understanding, obstinate, deluded, the slaves of various cravings and pleasures, spending our lives in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another.

But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man, appeared,

When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter.

Our own people should also learn to make good deeds a priority when urgent needs arise, so they won't be unproductive.