Older Women and Younger Women

Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored (Titus 2:3-5)

        I was raised in the 60s and 70s, which was an era in which there was a lot of noise made about women's rights. The push at the time was to throw off the rule of oppressive men, get out of the home, build a career of one's own - to be one's own woman, answering to no one. As the years went by, economics replaced emancipation as the reason most women went to work. As a single woman, that's why I went to work. Someone had to pay the bills. What I found, unfortunately, is that work wasn't emancipating. For the last 18 years that I worked, my soul felt eaten away. I didn't have a husband ruling over me with an iron thumb, but my employers filled that role with determination.

            Today's passage discusses what "older women" should teach "younger women" and it first glance, it looks just like what the feminists scream(ed) about: barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen, demeaned as a slave to husband and children. Let's look again, at both the older and the younger women.

            Older women are supposed to be reverent, not malicious gossips or addicts. they're to teach what is good and encourage younger women. My translation of that? Older women are supposed to be respectable, self-controlled and not self-centered.

           Somehow, I find it difficult to have an issue with being respected. If I don't like the idea of being under another person's control, I hate the idea of losing control to a substance. On the other hand, I love the idea of doing something with my life that benefits others, because I agree, it's not all about me.

            We older women are supposed to teach younger women to love those who are most important to them: their family. It doesn't say to love only their family, but the truth of the matter is, it can be hard to love those who are closest to you. If the younger women can't master that task, it's not likely they're going to handle their relationships outside the home, including with an employer, any better. If they cannot or will not fulfill their work responsibilities at home, how can they be trusted with something less important, like money or someone else's business? By the way, did you notice that it never says that women may not work outside the home. It's just that home is the most important and the place in which they learn much of what will get them hired and keep their jobs. We're to teach them to be sensible and pure, which means being respectable and having integrity. Finally, we're to teach them to be subject to their husbands who have a responsibility to love them and care for them. if they cannot work out their difficulties with authority within the home, how are they going to handle the authority of their employers?

            Now, describe the stereotypical Millennial. I often hear words like narcissistic, poor work ethic, entitlement, broken home, disrespectful, etc. I'm not saying all young adults are like this, but enough have been to gain the reputation for the rest. What that tells me is that we older women have a big job to do, and not much time in which to do it. We must begin with ourselves. Somewhere, probably closer than you think, there is a young woman who needs and wants a good example and mentor, if we would only do it.  Somewhere, probably closer than you think, there is an older women who has fought some of the battles you face, who can help you win your own battle, if you will let her.