1 Timothy 5:17

1 Timothy 5:17 says, Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.  Paul said that the elders be given a double honor.  especially those who labored in the word and doctrine.  We should give preachers honor today, especially those who devote all their life to proclaiming God’s word and live true to it.  

Verse eighteen adds, For the scripture saith, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.  Paul gave an example of not muzzling an ox while it was treading corn so that it would be able to eat what fell away.  He added that the laborer was worthy of his reward.  I don’t believe that this means that we are to just expect preachers who preach fulltime to be expected to live on just the scraps that fall by the wayside, but it means that we are to pay them well enough so that they will not have to worry about having their needs met.  This is what God expects of His people and not just something that we do out of the goodness of our hearts or grudgingly.  

Verse nineteen continues, Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.  Paul said that they were not to listen to accusations against an elder, or preacher, just on the word of one person, but that there needed to be two or three witnesses to whatever he was accused of doing.  Too often, people are willing to talk about preachers and even other Christians accusing them of wrongdoing without proof, and other Christians are willing to listen to them and even agree with them.  

Verse twenty concludes, Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.  Paul said that if an elder was guilty of sin, that he should be rebuked before all the church so that other elders would fear the consequences of sinning.  I think we can apply that principle to all those who are Christians.  We should never just gossip about them, but we should bring them before the church to answer the accusations and hold them accountable if they are living in sin once more. Then, if they confess and truly repent, they should be forgiven and never looked on as less worthy than any other Christian since we are all sinners saved by grace. 

1 Timothy 5:11

1 Timothy 5:11 says, But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry;  Paul said to not help the younger widows because when they began to be in need they would marry.  We again have to remember that women in that day were dependent on a man to provide for them since they had very few rights and even few jobs available to them.  I am not sure that we should expect younger widows to marry just for security, and they have many more job opportunities today.  Still, they shouldn’t just rely on others to support them if they are unwilling to work to support themselves if they are physically able to do so.  

Verse twelve adds, Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.  Paul also said that young widows who cast off their faith would bring damnation to themselves.  I don’t believe that anyone who has truly accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord will ever lose their salvation, so to me this would mean widows who had never put their faith in God.  

Verse thirteen continues, And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.  Paul said that these young widows who remained unmarried would have nothing but idle time on their hands and would wander around doing nothing but engaging in idle gossip.  Most young widows today are generally busy providing for themself and don’t have a lot of time for idle gossip, but there are some who expect family or society to provide for them, even if they are capable of providing for themselves.  Often those who are this way seem to enjoy spreading gossip about others instead of trying to provide for themselves.  

Verse fourteen states, I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.  Paul said it would be his desire that young widows get married again, have children, and guide her household so that no one would have any occasion to speak reproachfully about her.  He did not say that God commanded this, and not all young widows today who do not remarry live lives that bring them reproach.  I believe that if a young widow who is a Christian remarries, it should be because God had sent the right man to her.  

Verse fifteen adds. For some are already turned aside after Satan.  Paul said some young widows had already turned away from God and started following Satan.  I don’t believe that a Christian widow could ever lose her salvation, but she might engage in activities that she was tempted by Satan to do, and to me, that would even mean marrying for the wrong reason.

Verse sixteen adds If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.  Paul said if a family had widows that they should provide for them and not look to the rest of the church to do so.  We often look to the government or the church as a whole to meet the needs of our family that we ourselves should be meeting.

1 Timothy 5:8

1Timothy 5:8 says, But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. Paul then began to deal with how a Christian man was to deal with his own widowed mother.  If he did not provide for her needs, he was no better than an infidel.   I say man because in the society of that day women had very few rights, but today it would apply to daughters as well as sons I believe.  

Verse nine adds, Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man.  Paul then sets some standards for what constituted a widow that people should care for.  She was to be over sixty years old and the wife of only one man. 

Verse ten continues, Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.  I believe this means that she had lived a good, moral life under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. 

1 Timothy 5:1

1 Timothy 5:1 says, Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; Paul told Timothy to not rebuke an elder but to treat him as a father and that he was also to treat the younger men as brothers.  Though Timothy was to be their pastor, he was not to view himself as superior to anyone, and neither should pastors today.  Timothy was not morally superior to anyone else, and nor is any Christian, even pastors, superior to any other Christian today. 

Verse two adds, The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.  Paul told Timothy to treat all older women as a man should treat his mother and for him to look on all younger women as sisters.  This is still good advice for not only preachers but for all Christian men today.  We should never look on any woman without respect for them and should treat them with purity of thought, no matter what their status in the world may be.  

Verse three continues, Honour widows that are widows indeed.  There is more than one way to interpret what it means to be a widow indeed.  Some would say this means all widows, and it may.  Others would say this means widows with no family to help them, and understanding the norms of society in Paul’s day, I would say this might be more accurate.  Those widows who had family should have been honored by their family, though this doesn’t mean that Timothy should not honor them.  We should be more concerned with widows with no one to help them than we are with those who have family to help them, I believe.  Still, we as followers of Christ should treat all widows with respect because of who we are as Christians and not because of their situation as widows.   

Verse four states, But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God.  Paul continued to explain what he meant by there being different types of widows, and I have just given my interpretation of this in the last verse, and Paul says much the same thing here.   If a widow has a family, they should be the ones to honor her by meeting her needs.  Often today, children do not even treat their mothers this way but instead leave them to provide for themselves both financially and emotionally because it would cost them time or money to do so.  

Verse five adds, Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day.  Paul does then differentiate between widows who believe in God and those who don’t.   Still, I believe that we should look at all widows with love and compassion whether we are able help them financially or not. 

Verse six continues, But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.  If a widow has the resources and desire to live only for pleasure, we are not to help them financially or emotionally.  They are to be treated as someone who is spiritually dead, but we are still to pray that they will accept God’s gift of salvation.   We are also not called on to judge them as unworthy of God’s forgiveness.   

Verse seven concludes, And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless.   I believe that this means that Timothy was to call them to repentance so that they might be made blameless in God’s sight by accepting his gift of salvation, since there is no other way to be made blameless.