Today for Monday Motivation we talked about our identity in Christ, started The Afternoon Drive’s first “Give Us Your Blessing Giveaway”, and played our family fued for Mystery Monday! Here’s what we talked about:
Joe’s Motivation:
The Cretan Church. Cultural problems affecting the church: if you lied, you were a Cretan! Titus 1:12. Liars, evil brutes, and lazy gluttons. Jewish Cretan Christians. In that order. Detestable, disobedient.
- Moral looseness – sensuality normalized.
- Deceptive speech – truth was flexible.
- Laziness and indulgence – discipline was rare
- Story-driven spiritually – myths more attractive than the truth
False teaching doesn’t usually deny truth. It dilutes it. Making it less powerful. Be careful of taking away the power of the gospel.
Why does this matter today?? The greatest threat to the modern church is not persecution, it is profession without transformation.
They claim to know God, but their actions deny him. Colossians 3:1-11. Set your hearts on things above. When you come to Christ, that is now your culture. A follower of Jesus. He transforms you. How do we live and dwell when we’re Christians? Transformation. Our culture applauds belief as long as it costs nothing. Being a Christian is tough and it costs something. You are going to wrestle with everything. How do I be a Christian and do this? (Fill in the blank) He’ll give us strength and hope as we wrestle.
But…Scripture never separates belief from behavior. It does the opposite. Behavior indicates what we believe. Romans 3. Paul wants Titus to understand that the Gospel should be changing everything. They say they know Jesus, but deny His power.
Claim vs action. It’s that simple. Our question? How is it changing us? Me? You? If we believe that the Gospel has power, we have to stop living like Cretans. We have to yield to the Gospel.
Gabriella’s Monday Motivation: Guilt should not be a paralyzing burden of blame, but rather a tool for spiritual growth that leads to repentance, healing, and deeper reliance on grace. Instead of staying stuck in shame, we are called to turn guilt into gratitude by accepting Christ’s forgiveness, replacing guilt with the joy of freedom in Him. Here’s some steps to move forward:
- Turn Guilt into Gratitude: Instead of dwelling on a mistake, let it remind you of how much grace you’ve been given. This creates a heart of gratitude that motivates you to live better.
- Stop “Worshiping” Your Mistakes: Remaining stuck in guilt is like worshiping your failures rather than God’s mercy. Accept that you cannot pay for your own sins—Jesus already did.
- Focus on Identity, Not Action: Your identity is “child of God” and “new creation,” regardless of your performance
- Hebrews 8:12: “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Based on His sacrifice, Christ will never bring up our past sins and he will treat them like they never happened.
An exciting NEW Contest is coming to The Morning Thing and The Afternoon Drive Monday February 23rdthrough Wednesday February 25th! Listen to The Morning Thing and The Afternoon Drive for the “Tell Us Your Blessing Giveaway”! Tune in at 7:30am and 4:30pm for the “Tell Us Your Blessing Giveaway”. We are going to open up the phones at both of those times and the first person to call in and share a blessing wins TWO tickets to the Seph Schlueter concert at Crossroads Church in Mansfield on Thursday night. Go to our website wnzr.fm for more information! Congratulations to Brad of Bellville for sharing his blessings and taking home a pair of tickets to Seph Schlueter’s concert!
Name something that contains the word ‘mac.’
- Macaroni
- Big Mac
- Macintosh
- Mac Book or iMac
- McDonald’s
- A McIntosh apple
Congratulations to Sue of Mount Vernon for guessing the top two answers correctly and taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Resturant in Utica!
Tune in Tomorrow for Artist Newsday and Gametime Tuesday with Ethan and Xander!
Thanks so much for listening!
– Joe and Gabriella 🙂
Driving Notes 
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