“But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn to practice godliness toward their own family first and to repay their parents, for this pleases God. The widow who is truly in need and left all alone has put her hope in God and continues night and day in her petitions and prayers; however, she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.”
Paul starts this section with the command to support those widows who are genuinely in need. Here we see the first way to distinguish whether a widow should be cared for by the church. Does she have children or grandchildren who can care for her? The Bible clearly states that it is their obligation.
Let’s take a look at some verses. The first, and most obvious, is the 5th commandment. “Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12). Paul restates this commandment in his letter to the Ephesians, writing that this is the first commandment with a promise. Jesus had harsh words for the Pharisees for corrupting this commandment. The Pharisees told people to give the money to the temple instead of helping their parents in need. “He also said to them, “You have a fine way of invalidating God’s command in order to set upyour tradition! For Moses said: Honor your father and your mother; and Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death. But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or mother: Whatever benefit you might have received from me is corban’” (that is, an offering devoted to God), “you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. You nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other similar things” (Mark 7:9-13). Gotquestions.org explains, “Saying, it is Corban would exempt a person from his responsibility to his parents. In other words, the Pharisees took a legitimate Corban offering and used it in an illegitimate and devious way to defraud their parents (and enrich themselves).” We will see in verse 8 what Paul says about those who do not provide for their own families. Spoiler alert! It isn’t good!
Verse 5 specifies that widows who are truly in need and have no one to care for them are the ones to be supported. But there is more. A widow must have put her hope in God and continue night and day in her petitions and prayers. We looked at Anna in the last blog post, but let’s revisit her. Anna was a widow who lived in or near the temple. She was widowed seven years after her marriage and had been a widow for eighty-four years. In Luke 2, we read, “She did not leave the temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayers” (v.37). She is an example of a widow that the church should support. Paul is not asking these widows to do something that he does not do. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, he writes, “How can we thank God for you in return for all the joy we experience before our God because of you, as we pray very earnestly night and day to see you face to face and to complete what is lacking in your faith?” (3:9-10). And in his second letter to Timothy, he begins, “I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as my ancestors did, when I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day” (1:3). Paul knows that those whose hope is in God will be in prayer. “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Paul moves on in verse 6 to another kind of widow, one who does not qualify for support. He writes, “She who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.” What does Paul mean by this? We can get an idea by reading Romans 8:6. “Now the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace.” So we can contrast the widow who is putting her hope in God with the widow who is focused on herself.
This made me think of Galatians and the fruit of the Spirit versus the works of the flesh. This is a long passage, but it is worth putting all of it in.
“I say, then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (5:16-25)
A. Dwayne Litfin writes this in his commentary on 1 Timothy. “One need only witness the spiritual emptiness produced within those who choose such a profligate lifestyle to understand Paul’s point. Such women must not be placed on the widow’s list.”
Next Paul will write about people who do not provide for their own family. We briefly touched on it today, but we will go further in-depth next time as well as cover more qualifications for widows to be supported by the church.
Grace be with you!
Abundant Joy 