Titus 2 Ladies

No rocking chairs for me! I don’t want to retire and just wait to die. So what can older Christian women do in our youth obsessed culture? What kind of women should we become as we grow older? What should we be doing with our lives?

Answer:

I don’t blame you. I don’t want to waste valuable retirement years doing nothing, either! Thankfully, the apostle Paul helps us to understand our ideal role as we mature in the faith.

He asks mature Christian women to fulfill certain duties and to avoid other behaviors. Chief among the negatives is “gossip.” Older Christian women are NOT to go around wasting their time slandering others. Women (and men) who get on that phone or send e-mail tearing down others are violating Titus 2:3 and 1 Timothy 5:13 among many other pertinent passages.

I can’t underscore that enough. Gossip is a widespread problem.

Accountability Today & Tomorrow

Do we tend to think it doesn’t matter because we’re saved? Let’s be careful…consider that we can “shrink away from Him in shame at His coming” (1 Jn 2:28); we can lose part of a reward (2 Jn 1:8); or we can be judged severely now if we don’t correct ourselves (1 Cor. 11:29-30).

No Gossip – Phoning, E-mailing & Posting on Facebook “House to House”

Paul warns women that they should not “be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not” (1 Tim. 5:13, NKJV).

Satan’s Bad Habit of “Malicious Gossip”

In fact, is there a better first-century description of the practice of “phoning” or “e-mailing” multiple people (going house-to-house), gossiping about others? If you don’t think gossip is bad, consider that the word “slanderer” is used 34 times in the New Testament to describe Satan, our “accuser!” (Some of the worst offenders are men, by the way).

Moving on…

What TO Do – Teach Younger Women Good Things

Neither should mature ladies drink much wine. Of course, most of us already understand that. So what should we be doing with our lives as we grow older? Ideally, Titus 2 ladies should be teaching younger ladies how to live good lives. They should “admonish” (encourage through advice) younger women to love their husbands and children. This is not “romantic” love, but to be committed to their husband’s welfare and that of their children.

“Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, 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” (Titus 2:3-5, NAS).

One way mature Titus 2 women can help other women is to volunteer services at the Gospel Rescue Mission. Perhaps you could help someone learn to read or pass the GED high school equivalency exam. Maybe you could teach bible studies or share a Christian DVD once a month. There are many opportunities to help. Check into it…

Additionally, Titus 2 ladies can volunteer services at their home churches. Most weekly church bulletins contain information about helping others through church ministries.

Go for it, ladies!