“But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound Doctrine: …The older women (likewise), that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given too 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 ashamed…. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. …Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.”
The Mandate
In these verses I see that the older woman – which means me – is to be reverent in behavior, not a slanderer, not given too much wine, teacher of good things – and that they (I) admonish [warn or reprimand someone firmly, advise or urge (someone) earnestly] younger 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.
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My Pledge
So as an older woman I am here to do my best using the Word of God, to teach younger women how to love their husbands, love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, and obedient to their own husbands.
Let’s Get Started
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Loving Our Husband and Children
Let’s look at those words a little more carefully. I think it’s interesting that it says that the older women need to teach the younger women to love their husbands and their children. We don’t always feel “in love” our husbands or like loving our children. But love is a decision. Love is something you do. It’s not always a feeling.
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It’s interesting here that the phrase “love their husbands” is actually one word in the Greek – philandros. It means to be fond of man, affectionate as a wife: – love their husbands. It is not the Greek word Eros, which is the romantic, heart-throbbing, sexual love. When a woman says she doesn’t “love” her husband anymore, she usually means this type of love. But Good is saying women need to be taught how to be fond of their husbands, how to be affectionate towards them. If we need to be taught, then it didn’t come naturally nor is it easy.
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The phrase “love their children” is again I’d one word in the Greek: philoteknos. It means to be fond of your children, i.e. maternal: – love their children.
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A group I’m in on Facebook a young woman confessed the other day that she doesn’t like her kids and wanted to know what was wrong with her. The comments flooded in from dozens of older women who said, Honey, we ALL go through that. When the rubber meets the road, raising kids is hard, you don’t like what they do, and sometimes you just don’t like THEM, but you still choose to love them and train them. One said, you put on your big girl boots and just keep walking. I’m sure she didn’t mean walk away, but walking the walk as a mother.
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Getting back to the Scripture, I thought it interesting that both those Greek words started with philo, so I looked it up. It means to be fond of, friendly towards. So we need to be taught to be fond of and friendly towards our husband and children. Interesting. Enlightening. Don’t you think?
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Character Traits
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The next section lists character traits of a wife. Let’s define each of those words.
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It says to be:
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Discreet
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That is the Greek word sōphrōn. This word is from the base of two other Greek words which mean to be safe (sound) in mind, self-controlled (moderate as to opinion or passion): discreet, sober, temperate. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon says a. Of sound mind, sane, in one’s senses, b. Curbing one’s desires and impulses, self-control, temperate. In this day and age of social media and cell phones, it takes a very self-controlled woman to be discreet, sober, temperate, curbing your own desires and impulses… You can’t go in a store today without hearing a woman talking in a way a woman should never talk on the phone. Social media – oy! “Christian” FaceBook pages are no better, sad to say. You have to be very careful today if you want to be known as discreet.
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Chaste
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Chaste comes from the Greek word hagnos. It is defined as properly, clean, innocent, modest, perfect: – chaste, clean, pure. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon says 1. Exciting reverence, venerable (accorded a great deal of respect, especially because of age, wisdom, or character), sacred 2. Pure a. pure from carnality, chaste, modest, an unsullied (not spoiled or made impure) virgin b. Pure from every fault, immaculate. We will talk more about this in upcoming study. But if your heart was tugged at all of unchaste behavior in the past, don’t wait to confess your sin. Do it now. Choose today to confess, turn away from your sin and move forward as a chaste woman of God.
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Homemakers, or “keepers at home“
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The Greek word here is oikourgos. It means a guard, stayer at home, domestically inclined – a good housekeeper: – keeper at home. The Thayer’s Greek Lexicon says a. A keeper of a house. b. Keeping at home and taking care of household affairs, domestic. I did a blog called What is a Homemaker? Check it out
here.
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Good
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The Greek work here is athogos. It means a benefit, good, well. Thayer’s says
akin to to wonder at, think highly of, admirable. In general it denotes “perfectus.” Although we will never be perfect this side of heaven, we are to strive to be more and more like Jesus every day. Jesus said, “if you love Me, you will obey Me.” There are no excuses for disobedience. We either confess our sin or we are held accountable. Unconfessed sin leads to a hardened heart. A hardened heart leads to a reprobate mind. A reprobate mind leads to be cut off from Jesus – and Jesus does say that he will
erase people’s names from the book of life. I can’t imagine anyone wanting their name erased from the book of life and being separated from God for all of eternity. For a review I did on a book that talks about what the Bible says about Eternity, check out
this post.
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Obedient
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Oh-oh, here’s that word many women don’t want to hear. Let’s see what it says… The Greek word is hypotássō. To subordinate; to obey: – be under obedience (obedient), put under, subdue unto, (be, make) subject (to, onto) be (put) in subjection (to, under), submit self onto.
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I guess it means exactly what we thought it meant. Let’s see what Thayer’s Greek Lexicon has to say. It says to arrange under, to subordinate; to subject, put in subjection.
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To their own
This is a phrase. The Greek word is idios. And it means of certain affinity; pertaining to self, one’s own; by implication, private or separate. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon says 1. Pertaining to oneself, one’s own, what is one’s own as opposed to belonging to another, to do one’s own business and not intermeddle with the affairs of others…
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Husbands
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The Greek word here is anēr. A primary word meaning a man: – fellow, husband, man, sir. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon basically says that this is in reference to sex to distinguish a man from a woman and it means a male. I guess in this day and age we have to explain that a woman’s spouse is a man, not a woman. I’m glad the true meaning was evident when going back to the original language.
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My Responsibility
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So those are my marching orders. That is my responsibility as an older woman. So we will be looking at what it means to be a godly woman, wife, homemaker, and mother. I will be doing my best in this part of the blog and according to the wisdom, knowledge, and abilities I’ve been given to do that. I will draw from the wisdom and knowledge of others, as I feel led and see fit. In other parts of the blog, we will be looking at the other areas of homemaking.
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Future Plans
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Next week we will start a study called, A Wise Woman… It is a 16-week study based on a workbook. I may break at Valentine’s to do a study on I Cor 13, the “love chapter.” I have some other plans for later this year. I just have to see if I can get this AWESOME speaker to do a webinar for us. I’ve heard her speak and your marriage will be turned around once you hear and apply what she teaches!!
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Additional Resources
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I saw these videos online and since they speak on the verses above, I thought I’d include the links. I thought they were good.
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