In much of chapter five, Paul deals with relationship issues, and the first half of the chapter deals primarily with family responsibilities concerning widows. As he gives these instructions, he lays the responsibility for care upon the family, if family is available.

But he has some harsh statements for those families that refuse to care for their widows. You can see his statements in 1 Timothy 5:7-8:

Our society has trended away from caring for our families in some significant ways. We show little concern for our very young and our very old. We place our children in daycares and school settings where we only have to deal with them for a few hours a day. And we place our elderly in nursing homes or assisted care facilities as well.

I’m not saying there isn’t a need for both of these. But too often we neglect both of these categories of our culture because of our own need for convenience.

There was apparently a similar situation in Paul and Timothy’s culture. Members of the church were not accepting the responsibility to care for widows in their immediate families. Paul tells Timothy that these individuals were worse than unbelievers, because even the pagan and unbelieving would acknowledge the responsibility of children toward their parents.

The problem is that many of the younger widows were taking up the time and resources that needed to be available for those widows who had legitimate needs. Paul instructs Timothy to give these instructions to the widows referenced in the preceding verses so that they will not be open to blame. This is the same term Paul used concerning elders in 1 Timothy 3:2, and translated as “above reproach.”

Paul’s concern here is for widows who don’t really need to be cared for by the church, because they have families or circumstances that can provide for them, to not use up all the available resources for those widows who legitimately need assistance.

And, just like today, that can be hard to determine. Many feel that their needs are pressing and critical, but have other resources that they can tap into so that the church’s resources can be put to the best use possible.

The challenge is figuring out what is critical and what isn’t. And they only way to determine that, that I know of, is to rely upon God for discernment and knowledge. After all, he is in ultimate control.

Do you have widows in your family that need your assistance? How can you help them? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.