Family Study: Week Of: Sunday, May 2, 2021
Reflection
- (1Ti 5:1 ESV) Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers,
- (1Ti 5:2 ESV) older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.
- (1Ti 5:3 ESV) Honor widows who are truly widows.
- (1Ti 5:4 ESV) But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.
- (1Ti 5:5 ESV) She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day,
- (1Ti 5:6 ESV) but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.
- (1Ti 5:7 ESV) Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach.
- (1Ti 5:8 ESV) But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Discussion
No area of our lives is free of some responsibility. From bringing home a pet to purchasing a vehicle, everything has some responsibility. Our families and church are the same. God gives us things in our lives and calls us to care for them. Our families are one of those things. In the context of the Christian church, our extended family includes those in need such as widows and orphans.
In the time 1 Timothy was written, a widow would have been destitute without some outside support from her family or the church. Paul lines out the responsilibily of the church to care for widows who have no family and no means to support themselves. Additionally, those widows are commanded to live for the service of God and devotion of the church, not for worldly pleasures and selfishness.
Connection
What is something God has places in your life to care for?
Why is it important for our faith to be responsible for our families?
What are some ways we can provide for the needs of others?
How can your family seek ways to build up other families in the church?
Expansion
God Will Build His Church
Colossians 1:15-20, Colossians 3:15, Acts 20:28, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Matthew 22:37-39, Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 2:42-27