Striving For Church Health - Healthy Senior Women Series

Exposition: II. (:3-4A) CONDUCT OF OLDER WOMEN

A. "reverent in their behavior" Exhibit Christlikeness, to everyone, but especially to the young women around you so that they sense the Lord in you. Paul wanted the older women of Crete to have access to God. They were to be the kind of women who could enter God’s holy presence and be right at home.

Illustration: Is there anything sweeter than a godly older woman who joyfully lives out her life in humble service to God and others an who enjoys an up-to-date relationship with her God? I once knew a lady who did this very thing. She lived life reverently before God. She was best friends with my mother and her name was Oma Jordan. She was in a constant prayer-mindset and was fervent in her testimonies and waved a white handkerchief. But her spirituality was also very practical. Her trademark was a chocolate chip cookie. And she made them for everyone. Not only that, but one time I lost my contact lens. I thought that it was gone forever. My mother happened to tell Oma about it and she began to pray. And she fasted for a few meals, I later learned, in fervent prayer for my lost contact. The next day while taking a shower, the water in my eyes evidently moved the contact to the corner of my eye and through Oma’s prayers, I felt the contact just before it popped out and would have either been crushed or washed down the drain. I remember another time when I was going to have surgery and my mother gathered all of the prayer warriors around me. I was scared to death. But I knew it was a God-thing and if God was going to touch me, they were the ones that I would have wanted praying for me. They were godly women, reverent in the behavior.

Application: I certainly am not implying that to be the godly senior adult woman that God has called you to be you have to bake cookies for everyone, fast for contacts, and pray over young children, but there ought to be a since of godliness about your life with the Lord. Your testimony needs to be clear and at times verbally stated as well as demonstrated in daily life.

B. "not malicious gossips" What an immediate contrast this is? From the presence of the Lord in reverent behavior to gossiping! Do not be malicious gossips. Now that your children are gone, don’t spend your life sitting around, slandering other people, and tearing them apart.

Definition: One pastor that just loves to do word studies and incorporate them into his sermon is John MacArthur. Do you know what he says about this word for “gossips.” It’s the Greek word diabolos, 34 times in the New Testament it appears as a name for Satan. Nothing is more Satanlike than slander. And whereas men tend to sin and violently react physically, men prove to be rough or violent in their words. Satan is a malicious slanderer, slandering night and day. Don’t be Satanlike.

Observation: I think Paul is right on here. One thing that has been observed by many people is the tendency of older senior adult women to want to know everything and share their findings with their network of friends. As a result, they ask many questions sometimes, even to the point of being nosy. And they have done this for so long that they don’t even realize how obvious their motives are.