To the older women of the Lord's church
To the older women of the Lord's church,
We, the younger women, need you. I need you. I know that some of you have grown weary after many years of teaching children's bible classes and raising your own family. I know that some of you have bodies that no longer allow you to do what you would like and it is not always easy even to attend bible class and worship. I know that some younger women have bad attitudes and do not want to hear what you might have to say. I understand that you want to rest after a lifetime of effort, but it is because of that lifetime of effort and experience that we need you now.
Titus 2:3-5 says that "Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled."
I have heard from several older women that the younger women "just don't want to hear it", but there are some of us who very much so want to hear what you have to say. Please seek us out as we seek you. I was not raised in the church and do not have a christian mother to teach and guide me as I try to be a wife and mother. I know that there are many other young women out there in the same position who need an older woman to step in and guide them. Perhaps you feel like you are intruding or it "isn't your place", but Titus 2 tells us that it IS your place. It is the responsibility of the younger women to listen and learn from you and they are wrong to neglect that.
Maybe you live in a place where there are no young women for you to teach directly. If that is the case perhaps you could write down the advice and wisdom that you have. Even if you do have younger women to teach, please write it down anyway. So often I have met women who simply do not remember what they did in the early years of their marriage and their children's lives. While we have God's word to guide us we also need your experience in practical application of the word to help us. If you write it down now then you will have it for the years to come.
So please teach us, guide us, and be a part of our lives. Give us advice or criticism even if we don't ask for it. Please don't rest now- we need you too much.
We, the younger women, need you. I need you. I know that some of you have grown weary after many years of teaching children's bible classes and raising your own family. I know that some of you have bodies that no longer allow you to do what you would like and it is not always easy even to attend bible class and worship. I know that some younger women have bad attitudes and do not want to hear what you might have to say. I understand that you want to rest after a lifetime of effort, but it is because of that lifetime of effort and experience that we need you now.
Titus 2:3-5 says that "Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled."
I have heard from several older women that the younger women "just don't want to hear it", but there are some of us who very much so want to hear what you have to say. Please seek us out as we seek you. I was not raised in the church and do not have a christian mother to teach and guide me as I try to be a wife and mother. I know that there are many other young women out there in the same position who need an older woman to step in and guide them. Perhaps you feel like you are intruding or it "isn't your place", but Titus 2 tells us that it IS your place. It is the responsibility of the younger women to listen and learn from you and they are wrong to neglect that.
Maybe you live in a place where there are no young women for you to teach directly. If that is the case perhaps you could write down the advice and wisdom that you have. Even if you do have younger women to teach, please write it down anyway. So often I have met women who simply do not remember what they did in the early years of their marriage and their children's lives. While we have God's word to guide us we also need your experience in practical application of the word to help us. If you write it down now then you will have it for the years to come.
So please teach us, guide us, and be a part of our lives. Give us advice or criticism even if we don't ask for it. Please don't rest now- we need you too much.
I loved that so many older ladies were at the conference over the weekend. It is encouraging to me to see that no matter what your age, you are never too old to listen to truths from God's word.
Thanks.