You are lucky! Two verses today (:

Here is the text:

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1 Timothy 5:14-15, “So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.”

Interesting points:
1. In these verses Paul concludes his warning concerning the placement of young widows on the highest priority list for church support with practical advice to help them avoid the pitfalls he outlined in the previous verses, pitfalls into which some had already fallen before being led astray in their faith.

2. Paul’s advice for the younger widows was to help them move forward in life, making the most of every opportunity to survive, thrive and be fruitful. In Paul’s era, marriage and bearing children represented security: the widow would not be a burden on the church financially as her husband would provide in their youth and their children would serve as a safety net in their twilight years. Having a family also provided these women a meaningful purpose in life and the experiences they weathered would help them mature spiritually and develop character. Yet Paul still provided a warning: “…give the enemy no opportunity for slander: they should remain diligent, vigilant and manage their homes and families righteously.

3. Verse 15 refers to a group of young widows that had already strayed from righteousness, a group that Paul and Timothy both clearly knew about and who would serve as an example of what to avoid in providing charity. They undoubtedly subscribed to false teachings and living for self.

Application.
Brothers, once again Paul points out we must remain spiritually fruitful and guard against idle lives which can cause us meander and potentially stray from God’s righteousness.

God has a purpose for each of us: as we draw close to Him, we can rest assured that He will reveal it to us, equip us and ready us to step out on faith to answer His call. Today as we contemplate this, let’s assess how we are using our time. Do we aimlessly drift through time or are we conscious with how we prioritize it to serving Him? May we continue to sharpen each other so that we become fruitful in season and out of season!

Like the young widow, may we too face the tragedies with the right attitude to hold on tightly to God as we pick up, dust off and move forward in life.