9-10 Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. 11 But refuse to enrol younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. 12-13 Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.

14-15 So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. For some have already strayed after Satan. 16 If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows. 1 Timothy 5:9-16 English Standard Version

These verses may be more difficult for people in 2025 than for those they were written to around 65 AD. It's not that truth has changed, but times certainly have – especially in Western countries. Widowed woman, and even those who are divorced, have more options to be self supporting than was likely the case in those days. But what Paul wrote to Pastor Timothy for the Christians at Ephesus and Asia Minor still has application for our generation. What was the underlying issue that Paul was advising Timothy about? (vs 16)

Then, as now, the Church needed to use resources wisely and to spread the burden of caring for those in need. In the matter Paul was dealing with, this meant being discerning in which widows were to be supported by the Church, and vs 9-10 describe those who were to be given priority. The lifestyle of their married years gave evidence of the genuineness of their faith. What was Paul's concern about enrolling younger widows for support too quickly? (vs 11)

I think he was concerned, understandably, that in their desire to find another husband they might drift away from their commitment to Christ. Passions can do that. Obviously, the same could be true of a young widower, but Paul was dealing with widows as they were more vulnerable in society. He was also worried that if they were given support too quickly it could lead to idleness, and the sins that follow idleness. Things such as gossip and meddling. (vs 12-13) Again, men who are idle and lazy are just as vulnerable to falling into foolish ways. So what was Paul's answer to this danger? (vs 14-15)

That may seem strange as it appears to contradict what he said in vs 11. But the answer surely is that Paul is saying it would indeed be better for them to marry (a Christian), than to be supported by the Church and have too much time on their hands which could lead to gadding about. Paul isn't being anti-women here, he is being honest about human nature. How many people do we see on social welfare, who don't really need to be, spending their time doing what Paul warns about in vs 12-13.

In another letter of Paul to a younger pastor, he said: “Teach 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. 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 2:3-5)

This was probably one of the roles that godly widows who were 'over 60' could fill in the Church. They could encourage younger women, both wives and widows, in the congregation. And what Paul said to Titus was very much what he was urging younger widows in vs 14-15 to aspire to if they should find a Christian husband.

A big lesson here is surely that even Christians can be vulnerable when it comes to the opposite sex, and desire for a partner. Paul spoke of some who had already “strayed after Satan.” And he reminded Titus of how failure in managing our passions can lead to the word of God (the gospel) being maligned. Christians should keep one another in prayer, both those who are married and those who are single, that Satan might not lead any believer astray in this matter. Pray that none might wander from their commitment to Christ!