Tuesday, July 16, 2024
One of the most significant impacts we can have on the life of another person is to model the love of Christ. In our busy culture, it’s easy to slip into the mindset that we do not have anything to offer. However, that is not how Paul views the role of people, women specifically, in the church.
Titus 2:4-5
4 These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, 5 to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God.
In this passage, Paul is speaking to older women, calling them into positions of leadership over younger women. He encourages them to show younger women how to live as followers of Christ.
In the culture of Crete, it was difficult to be a godly wife and mother. The influencers of the day glorified behaviors that did not honor Christ. The same is true for us today. It’s hard to know how to be a good wife and mother. Being a wife who honors and loves her husband is often seen as oppressive, and choosing to be a mother may be viewed as a waste. We have also lost many of the skills other generations learned by living in close-knit communities.
This is where we as the women of the church need to step up. “Older” is not a designation many would willingly claim, but there is always someone younger than you who could benefit from your experience.
I have five children ranging in ages from 6 to 13. I have never graduated a student or launched an adult, but I made it through the diapering years. I am “older” than many young mothers and very capable of coming alongside and helping them through the hard years of having young children. In that same vein, there are plenty of opportunities for older women to come alongside me to teach me what it looks like to raise teens who love Jesus.
There will always be someone who is younger and older than you. You may not always feel like a leader, but we all have something to offer, and we should be seeking opportunities to bless others with our gifts. When the church functions as a family, we can change lives and communities.
Questions:
Ladies, how can you encourage a younger woman in her walk with the Lord? Is there an older woman whom you can ask to help you in your walk with Christ?
Gentlemen, how can you encourage the women in your life to grow their faith by stepping into these roles?
Next Steps:
If you are looking for a mentor, look for someone you admire and ask them to help you on your faith journey.
If you are older (and wiser), consider whom you can mentor. Seek out someone younger who could use your help on their journey. Without being pushy, be willing to move alongside him/her so they may learn from your experience.
*In Biblical mentoring, women should mentor women and men should mentor men.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of community we find in the church. Thank you for providing a safe place to learn how to love our families. Give me courage to seek out those who can help me in my walk, and bring others to me whom I can help grow in their walks with you. Strengthen my family and my love for your church. Amen.
Series Theme Verse:
Titus 2:14
“He [Jesus] gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.”
Today’s post was written by Julie Mabus, a regular contributor to the LivingItOut Devotional.