Give proper
recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a
widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put
their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying
their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. The widow
who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues
night and day to pray and to ask God for help. But the
widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. Give the
people these instructions, so that no one may be open to blame. Anyone who
does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household,
has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1 Timothy 5:3-15
Paul
spoke to Timothy, the pastor of Ephesus, and was very clear about how to handle
widows. Remember, the first deacon
position was created in Acts to specifically take care of widows, so they’ve
always had a special place in God’s heart.
However,
widows weren’t just taken care of because they had no husband. They had to earn the church’s favor to
receive the need. Imagine a welfare
system based on merit.
In
I Timothy 5, Paul lays out the rules for taking care of widows.
1.
They had to REALLY be
in need (verse 3), like desperate. Paul
didn’t want resources taken away for those who had plenty when others had little.
2.
The first priority of
care landed on the children and grandchildren, not the church (verse 4).
3.
The widow loved God,
trusted Him, prayed to Him regularly (verse 5).
4.
Any widow who lived
for her own pleasure was denied (verse 6).
5.
The widow had to be
over sixty years old (verse 9).
6.
The widow had to have
been faithful to her husband and known by her good deeds – the way she brought
up her children, showed them hospitality, washed the feet of others (verses
9-10)
7.
Younger widows did not
get assistance because they had an inclination to get married later. Paul heard of stories of young widows who
were lazy and busybodies, not faithful, loving, hard-working widows like Ruth
from the Old Testament. Like Ruth, Paul
encouraged them to find a husband and marry (verses 11-15).