As Paul continues discussing widows in his letter to Timothy, he shifts from older widows to younger ones. His instructions concerning older widows were pretty generous, but that changes for the younger women.

Take a look at this week’s passage in 1 Timothy 5:11-12:

Paul gave several characteristics that an older widow should display in the preceding verses.

In this next section, Paul explains why younger widows should not be included on the list with the older women. Exclusion from this list would not prohibit Timothy and the church in Ephesus from helping them if they were in need. Rather, this exclusion is based upon their youth and higher likelihood of remarriage.

Paul seems to indicate that their desire to remarry could become overwhelming, disturbing their devotion to Christ. That does not mean that a desire to remarry is an abandonment of the faith, as some seem to suggest; but rather, that the duties to a new family would be more immediately pressing than widowhood would allow.

Paul’s instructions here, while allowing remarriage, seem to suggest that he holds a very high view of the office of a widow. However, he does encourage remarriage later, in 5:14.

His worry is that these widows will bring judgment upon themselves. What this means depends upon how you interpret the word translated as “pledge.” This may refer to a pledge to widowhood, however unlikely it might seem in modern society. It could also refer to her pledge of faithfulness to her first husband, which could be broken when she remarries, but this seems contradictory to his statement allowing remarrying later in the chapter. If the word is translated as “faith,” then Paul could be relating remarriage to a denial of Christ.

It seems like Paul is intending the word to refer to a pledge here, however, and when taken together with the phrase “sensual desires,” it seems as if Paul is concerned about a younger widow’s priorities. After losing her first husband, she has more time to devote to Christ. But if the desire for remarriage becomes overwhelmingly strong, then her focus may shift away from Christ, bringing her in peril of sliding away from him. Paul’s preference is that they continue to serve Christ as a widow.

While these sensual desires seem to be a major issue, Paul will go on to address even more pressing matters in the next few verses.

What do you think a younger widow should do? Remarry? Or stay single? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.