In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.
Summary: Paul’s words for women are remarkably similar to the instructions he has for men.
Who writes a book that takes over fifteen hundred years to complete? Someone who lives a long time, that’s who.
And whose lifespan is greater than fifteen centuries? There is only one that we know of … God.
The Creator of all that exists existed before his creation was formed. He has existed throughout the history of the creation. He will exist long after the creation is no more. This is the author of the Bible — someone who has literally seen everything.
God knows us better than we know ourselves. After all, he made us:
“So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27).
We like to think of ourselves as individuals who get married, but in reality, we are two halves that come together to become one flesh (Genesis 2:24).
If God treats men and women differently, it is because he made them that way. He doesn’t love one more than the other because they are two parts of a whole.
In this passage, Paul begins with “In the same way…” again. In the same way that overseers are to be worthy of full respect (1 Timothy 3:4), deacons are to be worthy of respect. In the same way, deacons are to be worthy of respect (1 Timothy 3:8); women are to be worthy of respect.
Do you see the pattern?
God wants us, his creation, to be worthy of respect.
Notice that he doesn’t say we deserve respect simply because we are his creation. To the contrary, we can act in ways that bring shame instead of respect.
As Christians, we have the whole of the Old Testament to read and study so that we can better understand God’s will for us. We also have his Word given through Apostles like Paul.
“In the same way [as men], the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.”
As believers, we are all part of God’s family. As our Father, God wants us to be worthy of respect.
Application: Study God’s Word constantly.
Food for Thought: Who does it benefit when men and women disrespect each other?
Who does it benefit when men and women disrespect each other?
Interesting question. I think there is a temptation to say that the enemy benefits, that doesn’t sit right with me because to feed death seems more like a tragedy than a victory. Furthermore any sin is rebellion against God; Christ died and rose again to defeat death and sin, and bring us into unity under Himself, so that we can be reunited with God’s Spirit. Men and women disrespecting each other flies in the face of that truth. One may “feel” justified or vindicated by disrespectful words or behaviors, but they just serve to isolate both parties from each other, and for followers of Christ, serve to place a barrier in our relationship with God. Everyone loses.
Disrespectful words and behaviors are not congruent with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. They, in fact, are the exact opposite. They do not build up, they do not offer grace, they are not words rooted in love.
Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Thank you, Chris!
I really like your summary: Everyone loses!
Absolutely correct.
Who does it benefit when men and women disrespect each other?
Disrespect is from and will only benefit Satan.
In reality, there are many benefits to mutually respecting our differences and benefiting from the equally true but different views we may have on a specific subject.
1 Corinthians 12;12, Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.
1 Peter 4:10, Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
Galatians 6:2, Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Romans 12;4-5, For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
We should look to a common ground, seek compromise without watering down our faith, as we look toward building a bridge rather than a wall.
Amen, Ron!
Well said!