Titus 2:3-5 reads as follows:

“The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed” (KJV).

There is so much to be learned from this one passage but for right now there’s only one thing I’d like to focus on.  Every lesson I have ever heard on this topic focuses only on the “aged women” and their responsibility to teach the “younger women”.  I guess my question and my focus is…..what about the younger women?  What responsibility do they hold in all this?

So, my simple question is this…..younger women, when someone approaches you with a bit of advice, a story about their own experiences, maybe a criticism in the way you’re handling something, whatever…..how do you react?  Do you immediately go on the defensive and get mad, maybe come back with a snippy remark of your own?  Do you distance yourself from the woman trying to help you or do you honestly look at what she had to say and maybe learn from the experience?  I believe more often than not, us “younger women” (yes, I’m including myself here) tend to get our feathers ruffled and think, “what do they know?”.  Well, stop and think a second.  They have been through it, they’ve lived and learned, maybe they do know what they’re talking about and are simply trying to HELP!

Maybe it’s time we, as younger women, loosen up, realize we are not perfect, we don’t know it all and look to the older generation for guidance.  If nothing else share in the joys and heartaches that this life brings.  I truly believe the older women have a grave responsibility here and as younger women, we are putting up roadblocks and not allowing them to fulfill their duty toward us.  We have much to learn from one another if we’ll only open up the avenues of communication and accept some constructive criticism.  Not an easy thing, but sometimes necessary for our own good and the good of those we love.

By Margot Mantle
Margot and her husband, Jason, worship with the Hazelwood Church of Christ in Hazelwood, MO. She has been a stay at home mom since her two boys were little (they’re teens now).  She has a small interior decorating business and has just begun a website for ladies’ Bible study. She hopes to connect with other women through it.