Assisting Widows

We Worship God
A Guide for Worship Leaders:
Worship Inspires Service

1 Timothy 5:9-16 (The Message)
 ^9-10Sign some widows up for the special ministry of offering assistance. They will in turn receive support from the church. They must be over sixty, married only once, and have a reputation for helping out with children, strangers, tired Christians, the hurt and troubled.
 ^11-15Don't put young widows on this list. No sooner will they get on than they'll want to get off, obsessed with wanting to get a husband rather than serving Christ in this way. By breaking their word, they're liable to go from bad to worse, frittering away their days on empty talk, gossip, and trivialities. No, I'd rather the young widows go ahead and get married in the first place, have children, manage their homes, and not give critics any foothold for finding fault. Some of them have already left and gone after Satan.
 ¹⁶Any Christian woman who has widows in her family is responsible for them. They shouldn't be dumped on the church. The church has its hands full already with widows who need help.

For Reflection
Well now isn't that interesting!  In those days losing a husband was losing everything.  There was no doubt that they needed assistance.  The question was, "what kind of assistance and who should provide it?" Think about the characteristics of the widow ministers.  What kind of job description would you write for them?  Why does age matter?  Why married only once?  What characterizes their qualities as a helping person?
Putting a younger woman in a position that she might mass guilt by failing in the eyes of God is a worse way of helping.  The need to a part of a household is so powerful that it replaces the prime motive, serving God. Young widows are not to be condemned but, rather, encouraged to find fulfilling lives in more appropriate directions.   Who are the widow's in your life?  What is the difference between enabling them and helping them?

Pray
for divine guidance in your helping relationships.  Pray for wisdom that shuns judgment.  Pray for insight that helps others discover their gifts and rejoice in them.