Widowhood in youth is hard to bear. Yet through wars, disease and famine it is still a common experience. Paul advised against the natural tendency to protect and provide for the young widow within the church. In one way it might be thought of as an easier life, just serving in the church. But, unless God gives specific guidance, a young woman should expect to marry again and raise a family in a home which is a beacon of Christ’s love and truth to the community.
 
Although finding a suitable husband may not be easy, young women should not become idle busybodies but live a life of service to others – however hard that might be. The worst of all options is to be an unaccountable travelling gossip interfering in other people’s lives and delighting in the weakness of others. Such people become easy prey for Satan, who manipulates a right desire to influence people for good, into a destructive force which separates people and ruins churches.
 
Pastoral management of a church involves difficult decisions. One thing is certain: the Lord is not pleased by allowing people to do whatever they want. If that happened, there would be no gospel focus and the church could become a religious club responding to whoever is most manipulative. So do pray for your spiritual leaders that God will give them the strength to resist easy solutions where Satan may be at work, but persist in the hard work of teaching the truth and urging the people to obey God’s Word – for His glory’s sake and not theirs.