For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.
2 Timothy 4:3
As older women, beautifully living out the truth in 2 Titus is what we should long to live for. Verse 3 begins with, “Teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good”.
Last week my sister shared with me a conversation she had with a younger Christian woman who discussed with her that she had been spending the night at her new boyfriend’s house. The young woman was quick to point out that she and her boyfriend were not having sex, just talking to get to know each other better.
Many of us have been there. Even myself in my early dating years. It became quickly obvious to me that I was fooling myself to think that my good intentions could hold a match to the temptation of my desire for love.
But the conversation with my sister landed on an issue I’ve been mulling over for quite some time. Something even more obvious became very clear to me that I couldn’t ignore. It is the elephant in the room.
The elephant in the room is an expression which points to an obvious problem that no one wants to discuss. In this case, the elephant in the room is the challenge of [older] women teaching others what is good in a culture shopping for teaching from those who will tell us what we want to hear.
We all have things we want to hear and things we do not. Paul warned Timothy, “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3).
The need for older women to live in a way that honors God and to teach what is good is magnified in Hebrews 5:12 which says, “By this time, you ought to be teachers.” The truth is, you and I are always teaching by the way we live.
A younger woman with whom I coach said it is hard to find older women even in the church who were not struggling with the same sins she was struggling with.
Older women, you are needed more than ever. When a [younger] woman comes to you seeking teaching or advice, what will you teach them? Will you teach what is good or teach what is popular?
Never underestimate the impact your life can have on other women as you live in a way that honors God. You have the glorious opportunity of making the gospel beautiful for others to pursue the likeness of Jesus.