These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
Paul wrote this letter to Titus, a young church leader he trusted to oversee congregations on the island of Crete — a place with a notoriously rough culture and resistant people. Paul had just laid out a detailed list of practical instructions for how different groups in the church should live. This verse is his closing charge on all of it: teach these things, and don't back down. The word 'rebuke' means to correct firmly when it's needed. Paul's concern is that Titus might soften his message or shrink from hard conversations out of fear of being dismissed or disrespected by older, more skeptical members.
God, give me the courage to say true things, even when I am afraid of how they'll land. Help me speak with both authority and love — not choosing one at the expense of the other. Protect me from the fear of being dismissed, and keep me rooted in the truth you've given me. Amen.
There is something in most of us that will do almost anything to avoid being written off. We hedge. We over-qualify. We bury the hard thing inside enough kindness that it disappears entirely. Paul knew this temptation — and he wrote directly against it. He tells Titus to do three things: teach, encourage, AND rebuke. Not pick the comfortable one. The phrase 'all authority' here isn't about ego or volume; it's about the weight of what's being passed on. When the message itself is true, you don't have to apologize for carrying it. Where in your life are you softening words that need to stay sharp? Maybe it's a conversation with a friend heading somewhere destructive, or a hard truth a teenager in your life needs to hear. This verse doesn't give anyone permission to be harsh — Paul elsewhere says truth must be spoken in love. But it does call out the cowardice of staying quiet because you're afraid of being despised. You can be gentle and still say the thing. You can be kind and still mean it.
What does Paul mean by teaching 'with all authority' — where does that authority actually come from, and does it belong to the person speaking or to something else?
Think of a time you softened a hard truth to avoid conflict. What were you most afraid of, and what was the cost of staying quiet?
Is there a difference between rebuking someone and being harsh? How do you know when correction crosses into cruelty — and what does that line look like in practice?
How does the fear of being 'despised' affect your relationships — with friends, family, or colleagues — and what does it cost the people around you when you let that fear win?
Is there a conversation you have been putting off because you are afraid of how the other person will react? What is one concrete step you could take this week to have it?
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
2 Timothy 4:2
Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
1 Peter 3:3
Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
1 Timothy 4:13
Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
1 Timothy 4:12
Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
1 Timothy 4:16
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
Isaiah 58:1
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
Ephesians 5:11
This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
Titus 1:13
Tell them these things. Encourage and rebuke with full authority. Let no one disregard or despise you [conduct yourself and your teaching so as to command respect].
AMP
Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.
ESV
These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.
NASB
These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
NIV
Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.
NKJV
You must teach these things and encourage the believers to do them. You have the authority to correct them when necessary, so don’t let anyone disregard what you say.
NLT
Tell them all this. Build up their courage, and discipline them if they get out of line. You're in charge. Don't let anyone put you down.
MSG