…older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
Summary: Paul’s words challenge men to treat women with purity, echoing the words of the Old Testament laws.
Paul’s instructions to Timothy provide clear guidance on how to treat people. Not only people in church, but all people. In this passage, Paul once again instructs Timothy about those older and younger than he is. This time, the focus is on women.
If men treat women as mothers or sisters, there should be no question of sexual impropriety. That is something that all cultures seem to recognize as both reasonable and important.
Paul has a word for this: “Absolute purity.”
The word Paul used for “purity,” “hagneía,” is unusually concise in its meaning. It refers to the quality of being clean, especially when it comes to chastity.*
Some of the most explicit instructions in the Bible have to do with sexual purity. Leviticus, chapter eighteen, details the boundaries of proper sexual behavior. Leviticus, chapter twenty, expands on this list with some added details (mainly the curses and consequences of disobedience!).
This is an example of where the moral principles behind the Mosaic law transcend the old covenant and continue into the new.
Jesus simplifies the law into two statements: Love God above all else, and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) expands on these two simple principles, explaining in more detail what God means by “love.”
In essence, God’s love is selfless love. Putting self-interest before God and others is sin. Under the Mosaic laws, there were penalties for sin. Some of the penalties were quite severe, even to the point of death.
Have the penalties for sin changed since Jesus’ day?
Unfortunately, sin is still deserving of death (Romans 6:23). Fortunately, Jesus was willing to die on the cross for us (1 Corinthians 15:3).
So, does that mean we don’t have to work at being pure?
Sin is still sin, isn’t it?
Yes, it is.
Sin is like a weed seed. If it is allowed to grow, the Bible says it “gives birth to death” (James 1:15). We can’t afford to allow the weeds to grow in our hearts and our minds. This is why Job was so careful about keeping lust out of his life (Job 31:1).
We may not be able to live a perfect life, but when it comes to purity in our relations with the opposite sex, we have to try.
Application: Purity begins in the mind.
Food for Thought: What are some simple guidelines to help men maintain purity towards women?
*”G47 – hagneia – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (NIV).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 9 Jun, 2026. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g47/niv/mgnt/0-1/>.
What are some simple guidelines to help men maintain purity towards women?
I like the question because it places the onus on men to manage their own thoughts and actions, and maintain purity.
A first simple guideline would be to guard accountability. Always remember that we are accountable to the Lord for our thoughts and actions, and even if we find ourselves out of the company of people, the Lord is with us always.
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Jeremiah 17:10 I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.
A good second guideline, and one that is very important, is guarding the eyes. Everyone notices what is around them, and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact one can see beauty and be filled with joy, wonder, hope, and thank the Lord for His creation. But lingering looks have a way of initiating the “theater of the mind” and are a sure way to invite impure thoughts.
Matthew 5:27-28
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Job 31:1
31 “I have made a covenant with my eyes;
how then could I gaze at a virgin?
A third good guideline is to guard one’s speech. If we allow ourselves to speak to women coarsely, then we are really saying that we do not respect our own purity or value hers.
Ephesians 5:4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
Proverbs 21:23 Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.
A fourth good guideline is to guard one’s placement. Be mindful of placing oneself in situations where temptation might arise or question the integrity of oneself and the other person.
Proverbs 22:3 The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.
Proverbs 14:16 One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless.
2 Corinthians 8:21 For we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man.
Thank you Chris!
Accountability, eyes, and speech — all excellent points!
Well covered by CH with great verses.
What are some simple guidelines to help men maintain purity towards women?
Genesis 39:7-12 teaches an example of maintaining purity towards women.
In V7 and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”
V8-12, 8 But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. 11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.
All are spiritual beings having a physical experience and in Christ we have the ultimate power of self-control in all things. Our priority is to feed our spirits and we will find we have no desire to feed this temporary housing of flesh which confines us for a very short period of time.
Thank you Ron!
Great example!