QUESTION:
How important is it that older women teach
younger women those things listed in Titus 2:3-5?
ANSWER:
The verses in question read as follows: “the older women likewise, that they be
reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good
things that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their
children, to be discreet, chaste homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands,
that the word of God may not be blasphemed.” Such teaching is not only important, it
is commanded. The teaching is not public teaching from the pulpit, for women are
forbidden to do that in I Timothy 2:11-12 “Let the women learn in silence with all
submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over the man”
and I Corinthians 14:34-35 “Let your women keep silence in the churches, for they
are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive as the law also says. And
if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is
shameful for women to speak in church.” Hence the teaching here mentioned is that
done in private settings. Who would be better equipped to do this teaching than
older, wiser, and more experienced Christian women. It seems to me that there is a
crying need for such teaching today. Why is it that so many older women seem
reluctant to step forward? Could it be that some young women resent being approached
by older women who seek to instruct and guide them in Christian conduct? Could it be
that some older women feel inadequate to do such teaching? Could it be that many
older women are guilty of the very things young women need to be warned to avoid?
Notice the list that Paul enumerates: (1) to love their husbands, (2) love their
children, (3) to be discreet, (4) chaste, (5) homemakers, (6) good, (7) obedient to
their husbands. One might wonder just why young women need to be reminded to love
their husbands. In a day when over half of all marriages end in divorce it seems
evident that many don’t love their husbands as they should. Nothing such as fancy
dress, costly jewelry, or educational advantages can compensate for the genuine love
and devotion that a wife must have for her husband. It seems almost unthinkable that
any mother would need to be taught to love her children. Yet in our world today
thousands of children are beaten and abused every day. Some are even murdered by the
hands of the one who brought them into this world. There is no doubt that maternal
affection is natural, yet even in Paul’s day he realized the need to admonish
mothers to love their children. Mothers who love their children introduce them to
the Lord at an early age and continue to school them in Christian principles with
the word of God and a Godly example. Young women need to learn the lesson of being
sober-minded and chaste. When I see young women dressed in clothes that cover very
little of their bodies, it seems evident that some mother failed to teach her young
girls the value and necessity of dressing modestly. Young women need to be taught
the danger of yielding to the flesh and the necessity of keeping their bodies pure
and free from the sins identified by Paul in Galatians 5:19. Married women are to be
home makers. Literally Paul is saying that young women need to be taught to be
workers at home to watch and guard the home. The home needs to be a pleasant place
to those who live there. Young women not only need to be taught to keep the house
clean and orderly, but to make the home a place where both husband and children long
to be. The woman is truly the queen of the home and as such she deserves the love
and respect of both husband and children. She is to be good and kind and to love her
husband. These things clearly show just why older Godly women need to teach and
train younger women. Young women who are trying to be the kind of example the Lord
expects of them will gladly receive the instruction given them by older, experienced
women in the church.