Women are very important in church history. Even in the 21st, it is a known fact that for a church to thrive, a few women are needed to carry the vision across. Naturally, women tend to be affable and their friendliness lend them to become great points of contact for every new ministry. However, when the church fails to equip the women in the church with the necessary tools needed for spiritual growth, the same women can become agents of retrogression. Therefore, it is important that the church becomes a place where both men and women are nurtured to grow in the things of God. In Paul’s letter to Titus, after addressing the older men, Paul then addressed the need to teach the women in the church. Paul focused on 2 groups of women: the older women and the younger women. We need to understand that both the older and younger women are very important in God’s agenda. From the early days of church history till date, we see God using both older and younger women for different kingdom assignments.
Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. (Titus 2:3)
In Paul’s letter to Titus, he emphasized that, Titus should “teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.” (Titus 2:3). Thus, the older women are to be taught to live responsibly and respectfully, avoiding gossip, blabbering and not as wine blabbers. These vices can cause great confusion in the church if not dealt with. However, when the older women eschew these vices, then they can teach what is good. Afterall, it is more profitable to practice what one teaches. In the words of Paul to Titus, it is after the older women have imbibed and practicalized these godly principles, “then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.” (Titus 2:4-5). In other words, the virtues that Paul talks about must not just be messages the older women preach to the younger women. It should be a lifestyle that would be easy to emulate by the younger women.
The older women were to teach the younger women marriage and home management (love their husbands and children, to be busy at home, subject to their husbands), self-control and purity (before marriage and after marriage), kindness (compassion to one another). According to Paul, when these virtues are demonstrated in the younger women, they stand as a barrier against people maligning the word of God. Imagine if younger women in the church have been taught to demonstrate these values, the people of the world will identify the difference Christ makes. Paul’s letter appealed that this mentorship role be entrusted into the hands of the older women. Thus, the older women would be equipped by Titus and they in turn will be able to equip the younger women with their lifestyles. This is true in many churches, where there are no good mentors for the young woman to look up to, there is a high possibility for young women in such churches to live anyhow. Mentorship and discipleship are relevant for holistic approach to spiritual growth.
If you are an older woman, let your life be the mirror that reflects Christ to the younger women. Dear young woman, be willing and ready to be taught. Never undermine the wisdom of the older generation because you have higher educational credentials. Your PhD is not equal to lessons acquired from sitting under the feet of a godly woman. Be humble enough to learn and be versatile enough to teach others. Remain blessed!
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