Give these instructions to the church. 1 Ti 5:7 through 16.

 When we finished 1 Timothy 5:6 we were given these instructions. Ignore the fact that it seems to speak only to widows because it does not.

But the widow who lives only for pleasure is spiritually dead even while she lives. NLT

Anyone, who is living purely for their own pleasure is spiritually dead.

Notice what Paul says in his letter to the church in Rome.

"The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body, God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.

He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.

Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.

So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death.

But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you.

(And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)

And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God.

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.

And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you."

(Romans 8:3-11 NLT)

Paul tells Timothy

Give orders to this effect, so that no evil may be said of anyone. 1 Timothy 5:7 BBE

Again, why would Paul have to say, the person “who lives only for pleasure is spiritually dead even while they live”?

Verse 7, as you can see above, tells us that Paul does not want anyone to be able to speak evil of us. In the current environment in which we live, the liberals seem to have the leisure to make things up, but not necessarily. An example of this very thing came to me recently, from Pastor JD Farag. In his message entitled, “Godless Chatter - 1 Timothy 6:20-21 – November 1st, 2020.” Pastor JD spoke about the things we have shared on social media, and he spoke specifically about Presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, and how Christ died for them as well. Apparently, he has read some of our posts, and it caused him to cry, as he believes that many of us would have a difficult time leading anyone to Jesus based on how we have excoriated the Biden's.

I am aware of the repercussions of slanderous statements but sharing well-known evidence against persons who are actively pursuing illegal actions; and, even worse, live in unflinching denial of those facts, seems reasonable to me.

Does what I say mean that the father and son team should not be exposed?

Not if they are going to continue to boldly lie about their actions while calling the current President an evil man. If the Biden's repented of their actions and turned their lives over to Jesus Christ, I believe I could say, they are Christians; none of that, however, makes them safe. My goodness, we have to give the tree time to produce good fruit. Does that make sense to you?

Paul continues this focus on the widows until we reach verse 16.

1 Timothy 5:8 NLT But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.

Television shows are frequently based on reality, and so the reality is that families have ignored caring for their relatives. If you have ever seen the movie, Christmas Vacation, with Chevy Chase and Randy Quaid, you might understand why you might want to deny care for some of your relatives. The NLT does not make it clear, as it appears that these relatives have denied the true faith; but that is not the case, as translations, such as the CEV, point out that it is us who have given up the faith, and are worse than someone who doesn't have faith in the Lord.

1 Timothy 5:9-10 CEV For a widow to be put on the list of widows, she must be at least sixty years old, and she must have been faithful in marriage. (10) She must also be well-known for doing all sorts of good things, such as raising children, giving food to strangers, welcoming God's people into her home, helping people in need, and always making herself useful.

Why are there stipulations, such as being at least sixty years old; faithful in marriage; having raised her children well, and faithful in taking care of strangers?

Because it shows faithfulness and a Godly attitude. Children raised by someone like this, would, because of their teaching, take care of their mother. Why even the strangers, because of her faithfulness, would then take care of this dear lady, as well. The bottom line, this was the closest thing there was to social security.

1 Timothy 5:11-15 CEV Don't put young widows on the list. They may later have a strong desire to get married. Then they will turn away from Christ (12) and become guilty of breaking their promise to him. (13) Besides, they will become lazy and get into the habit of going from house to house. Next, they will start gossiping and become busybodies, talking about things that are none of their business. (14) I would prefer that young widows get married, have children, and look after their families. Then the enemy won't have any reason to say insulting things about us. (15) Look what's already happened to some of the young widows! They have turned away to follow Satan.

To say, just because they get married, they will turn away from Christ, can apply to most of us men as well.

Does marriage make you lazy?

No, the laziness has to already be there; either that or one or the other has massive co-dependency issues.

Choosing to be a busybody and gossip, is a choice to get involved in things that are NONE of your business. See, these younger ladies can get remarried, have children, and be supported, in time, by family. Paul's underlying motivation is that the enemy has no accusation against you because it can turn some away to follow Satan.

1 Timothy 5:16 NLT If a woman who is a believer has relatives who are widows, she must take care of them and not put the responsibility on the church. Then the church can care for the widows who are truly alone.

Another example of this last verse came from the historian, William J. Federer, who spoke on “Socialism: The Real History, From Plato to the Present.” In his recent talk at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, he spoke about how that families and the church were the social systems of the day. Sadly, we turned that authority over to the government, which destroyed it and our freedom.