God, Old Men, And Old Ladies Series

This sparked a violent rumor in the church and caused a lot of concern and mistrust of the Pastor. Yet, the Pastor said nothing.

But what he did do was go take his car and park it in front of the “church gossips” home and leave it there overnight.

Watch out. Don’t mess with us Pastors. ?

b) Their sober life- Paul continues by saying: “not enslaved to much wine.” The idea is that she’s careful about what controls her. The island of Crete where Titus was planting churches was known by historians as a place of wine production. Moderation led often to the addiction of many. Therefore, Paul encourages the older women to not let alcohol control them; instead to be controlled by Christ.

c) Their successful servanthood- One of the greatest blessings in life according to God is

to have a godly wife.

Proverbs 31:10 says: “An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels.” He is basically saying to the guys: “You can have all the money in the world, but a godly wife is the most valuable blessing in life. A godly wife is rare and hard to find.”

Older women are often empty nesters. They’ve raised their kids and experienced marriage for a long time and are able to train or coach younger women in the family life and their marriage.

The Bible gets specific saying that older women are to coach the younger women “so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.” vs. 5

The idea of “subject” or “subjection” provides a picture of someone holding up a wall. Without her the house would fall in is the most literal picture of subjection.

She holds up her husband spiritually and often physically.

The older women were to help teach the younger to “love their husbands.” Does that sound odd?

In America we have a children’s rhyme that my grandkids sang to my daughter and her fiancée (now her husband) over and over. It went like this: “Luke and Avery sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage.”

Yet, in Titus’s day, most marriages were arranged. Then, marriage came first then the love.

Application:

Therefore, older women coached the girls and helped them sometimes help the girls learn what real love is. It’s more than a feeling. It is commitment and Christ that are the true sustainers of genuine love.

After all, who better to point these girls to than Christ. That’s where love originated because I John 1:8 says: “God is love.”

These older women had spent a lifetime loving God. Loving their husbands. Also, loving their children and not only did they have a testimony of a full and joyful life; they were able to teach the younger wives of how to experience the same.

Conclusion: What are you handing down?

Have any of you ever had anything passed down to you? Both my grandfather’s handed down things for me to enjoy. Both of those things came out of their pockets. One gave me a pocketknife and the other gave me a pocket watch.