September 02, 2026 | Be Connected
A Word about Younger Widows
Scripture: 1 Timothy 5:11-16(NIV)
11 As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry. 12 Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. 13 Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also busybodies who talk nonsense, saying things they ought not to. 14 So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander. 15 Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.
16 If any woman who is a believer has widows in her care, she should continue to help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need.
Devotional
According to research by Bowling Green State University, 70% of married women become widows, with half of them experiencing widowhood before age 65. The study also reveals that the younger a woman is when she becomes a widow, the more likely she is to remarry.
While Paul didn’t have university research at his fingertips, he observed the world around him. In the days before pensions, Social Security, life insurance, and women being able to hold paying jobs, it was crucial for a widow to be able to find a way to survive. Even more so than today, younger widows almost always remarried in Biblical times.
For many Ephesian women, this meant marrying a non-believer from Ephesus. Recall how corrupt the city was with idolatry in abundance. In 2 Corinthians 6:14 Paul wrote, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.” The image here is of two oxen connected at the neck by a wooden yoke. Marriage between a follower of Christ and a non-believer is like two incompatible oxen pulling the plow in opposite directions.
This could be what Paul means by the widows “have broken their first pledge.” This phrase “first pledge” can also be translated “former faith.” In other words, a young woman might turn away from her commitment to Christ and get married to someone who worships Greek gods and goddesses. This might be what leads to his statement, “Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.”
In Revelation 2, the Lord calls the cities and residents near Ephesus a synagogue of Satan, where Satan has his throne, and where Satan lives. What was at stake was not a widow’s earthly well-being, but her eternal commitment to Christ. So, Paul counseled the younger widows to marry somebody from the Christian community and raise a godly family together.
Spend some time praying for younger and older widows and widowers you know. Ask God to bless them, guide them, and provide for them in both physical and spiritual ways.
