Caring for widows based on 1 Timothy 5:1-16

As I am studying what Scripture says about caring for widows, some key words are jumping out at me...

Respect

honor

take responsibility

Provide for your own family

Kindness begins at home. 

Paul truly holds us accountable for how we care for our widow's. Especially, those in our own family. Notice how we are to be the guver and not the taker when we serve a widow.

But Paul also gives widows a few things to think about as well.

Widows must be known for...

Putting hope in God

Praying/talking to God all the time

Having taken care of husband 

Raising her children

Hospitality

Encouraging others

Comforting troubled people 

Serving in kindness

It is okay to marry again. This is important to know especially for younger widows.

In both the serving of a widow or a widow in her grief, we are called to a steadfast, reliable, trustworthy, loyal, faithful walk that reveals Christlike integrity. 

Honestly, these lists can feel daunting. Especially, if you are the one in grief or the caretaker of someone in grief. I know from our experience with Papa passing, we had to give each other permission to be real and raw in our pain. This list is not a call to perfection as much as it is a reminder to not forget who we are or who we belong to. 

If we remember, we are children of God, called to die to self, and serve one another, it gives us a purpose in our grief. 

When I love on my mom in her grief, I am loving on Jesus as well. When my mom makes crochet gifts for others or grabs the hand of someone to cause them to stop so she can pray for them it is her way of loving on Jesus. It gives her hope and healing. 

If we take the heart of the message then it makes a way for the widow to move forward in hope, purpose, and healing. 

I would love to hear from any widows

About what you have learned in this season. Please contact me to help me so I am better equipped to love on those I will get to serve.

The magnitude of His glory.

I am on my third page of listing out what I learn about God from Romans 8. This is my fourth day on this passage. I have one more section to go. The list is long y'all. 

I have always loved Romans 8, but I never took the time to truly dive into it. But, the Passion translation's poetry caught me and caused me to sit in the wonder and awe of God. 

The phrase "His glory has magnitude" blesses me.

In astronomy, magnitude references brightness compared to lesser lights.

In Math, magnitude references the distance a number is from zero.

In science, magnitude references it is the energy released.

In physics, magnitude references the power or force that can be measured going forth.

What a word choice! 

God's glory is so bright all others dim. There is no other so bright like Him.

God's glory was in time at zero and moved forward at the beginning of creation. He is beyond time. He was, is and will be.

God's glory has been releasing its power ever since with a force that is immeasurable or scalable. It is a mystery. We catch hints of it, but never fully see it. 

Selah! 

It is fun to be in the Word, to be with Jesus, to be transformed. 

Shalom y'all!

Co-glorified comes through co-suffering

Do you ever watch older couples holding hands and think, "Look, they are still in love! They are so cute! I want that!"

The seasoned state of still holding hands and walking as one can only come through the identity of shared suffering. Shared suffering creates a shared identity! 

Little old couples that walk as one holding hands had to push through the suffering to get to the identity of oneness that experiences the glory of making it through.

This morning as I read, "We will experience being co-glorified with Him provided that we accept his sufferings as our own" (Romans 8:17c/TPT). 

Glory identity only comes through accepting the co-suffering.

In our relationship with God, glory only comes when we are willing to co-suffer and identify with Jesus' suffering and accept them as our own. It takes time. It takes perseverance. It is a process of growing and maturing. 

If this is true in our holiest relationship then it is true for our most base relationship. We must ask ourselves, "Am I willing to suffer so I can identify with the other?" "Am I willing to suffer with them or because of them?" "Am I willing to take the time to mature and grow together?"

Once, we do, we discover we have built history and history builds identity of oneness. Just as we experience being co-glorified with Christ through co-suffering, it is true in our relationships, too.