Titus 2:1
"But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: "
There are things that all parents instilled in every child. Whether that was to be respectful, look both ways before crossing the street, or to be kind - we were all taught something at a young age and that was spoken and/or shown to us over and over again until we got it. That is what the Bible is instructing the elders to do here. To teach! Teach the things that become sound doctrine.
To be sound means to be entire; unbroken; not shaky. And doctrine is a general sense of what is taught. It is the act of teaching. It is knowledge. It is truth. So, to have "sound doctrine" you have to have knowledge and truth that is unwavering. Now, I am mainly speaking to the married and older women here. When we are told to "speak thou the things which become sound doctrine," that means that us Christian women need to start teaching. However, in order to teach, you have to study and walk in His word because we have to be taught in order to teach.
II Timothy 2:15
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
Titus 2:2-3
That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.
The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
When you read through verse two you may think that this doesn't apply to us women because Paul is referencing the men. But actually, it applies to the women as well. Older women as a matter of fact. Thats why in the beginning of verse three "likewise" is added and Paul adds a little more emphasis on what he said the older women should also be in verse two.
Titus 2:4-5
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.
As you read through these verses, you may think that this is common sense and that every woman instinctively loves their baby or their husband. But no, we need to be taught how to do it the right way! For example, a baby or toddler will cry to tell us something is wrong but if we keep giving that child everything they think they want or they ask for, we are creating unpleasant children that grow up thinking they can get their way. So, we mothers need to be taught that it’s ok to tell your child no if they really don’t need what they think they want.
Another thing I have found as I was doing some studying on this passage in my husbands Ruckman Commentary Bible, I came across something that was very good that Dr. Ruckman pointed out in verse five, where it says that the young women should be "obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." He pointed out that there are three instances in the Bible that the Holy spirit mentions of something being "blasphemed."
The Jews disobeying the Lord and it caused "the name of God" to be blasphemed (Romans 2:17-24)
The slaves disobeying their own masters causing the "doctrine" of God to be blasphemed (I Timothy 6:1)
Wives disobeying their own husbands that causes "the word of God" to be blasphemed (Titus 2:5)
This to me was huge! We can cause the word of God to be blasphemed by not obeying our husbands! And if you think about it, it makes sense. Our husband is our head like Christ is the head of the church. Our marriage is supposed to be a picture of Christ and the church/ the bride of Christ. So if we are not obeying our husband we are not representing that picture.
God was very clear of what older women are supposed to teach the younger. And when the younger women become older women, they are to teach the next generation and the cycle is to continue. However, I feel as if the ball was dropped somewhere down the line of generations and I feel as if more women need to see the need and pick up that ball.
In my church, there was a father and daughter that went on a missions trip together recently. When they came back, they gave a testimony about some of the preaching that was done and the father mentioned something that stood out to him that I thought was SO very good and true! He said,
Just because we live in a Laodicean time, doesn't mean we need to act like we live in a Laodicean time.
How true is that?!? We can still pick up the ball and continue on strong until the end even though others around us are dropping the ball and giving up. Start learning so we can teach the next generation of mothers and wives.
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