But the widow who serves only herself lives a life of self-indulgence and is wasting her life away. Be sure to give clear instruction concerning these matters so that none of them will live with shame. For if a believer fails to provide for their own relatives when they are in need, they have compromised their convictions of faith and need to be corrected, for they are living worse than the unbelievers. The widows who are worthy to be supported by the church should be at least sixty years old and not remarried. They should have a beautiful testimony of raising their families, practicing hospitality, encouraging other believers, comforting troubled ones, and have a reputation for doing good works. But you need not concern yourself with the younger widows, for some will depart from the Messiah because of their desire to remarry. For they will face their own punishment of living with a disturbed conscience for invalidating their former faith. Those widows who go around from house to house as busybodies are only learning to be lazy, making their situation even worse by talking too much, gossiping, and speaking things they shouldn’t. They become far too obsessed with empty things that will not bear good fruit. For this reason, teach the younger women to remarry and bear children and care for their household. This will keep them from giving our adversary a reason to gloat. For there are already those who have begun to turn aside from their faith and are influenced by Satan. So if any believer has a widow in their family, instruct them to support her financially so that the church will not be burdened with her care. This will leave finances available for those widows who are truly in need.
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5 Days
Christians are different. They can’t help it. When you’re born again and filled with the Spirit, it changes you. This leads to different values about right and wrong, and a different lifestyle to match it. This series of 5-day plans uses the 10 Commandments (following the classic Augustinian ordering) as a vehicle for an alternative, Christ-like morality and Jesus-way of living.
6 Days
The first of Paul’s three “pastoral epistles,” 1 Timothy focuses on the church as a “pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). In the letter, Paul commands Timothy to “guard the deposit” (1 Timothy 6:20) by combatting false teachers, protecting the flock of Christ, and structuring the church well. 1 Timothy shows us the incredible privilege of being in God’s church and the high calling of leading it.
Sometimes young men wonder: how can I navigate through life in such a way that I grow closer to God and grow and develop as a godly, masculine man? This Bible plan will consider some points of wisdom to help you on this journey.
This plan offers a 6-day journey through the book of 1 Timothy, making it ideal for both individual and group study.
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