CHRISTIAN ETHICS FOR WIVES AND MOTHERS

                                                                     Titus 2:3-5

 

 

Introduction:

 

1.                  Of the kind of women the New Testament calls for

a.                   “Woman such as that described will be a profound blessing to her family”

b.                  “Society cannot rise above the moral level of its young women”

c.                   “...that the word of God may not be reviled” (Tit. 2:5)

 

2.                  A fact not to be overlooked

a.                   “There is a surprisingly steady concern...for the right ordering of observable behavior.”

b.                  Such a powerful role requires solid ethical practices.

 

Discussion:

 

1.                  The Misunderstood and Controversial “Submit”

 

a.                   In statements addressed to wives: willingly given

 

b.                  Among other instructions to be subject: no indication of spiritual or intellectual inferiority

 

c.                   Qualified by relation to the Lord: nothing abusive or degrading

 

d.                  Because of his will: not simply cultural

 

e.                   Having to do with the hidden person of the heart: very much a matter of spirit

 

f.                   Respect: setting the family’s spiritual temperature

 

2.                  The Maturity to Be Sought Out and Heard

 

a.                   Peter presented Sarah as a model of holy womanhood

 

b.                  Paul presented standards for older women

i.                    Reverent in the way they live

ii.                  Carefully avoiding two moral failures

(1)               Not slanderers

(2)               Not slaves to much wine

iii.                Teachers of goodness

 

 

 

3.                  The Manner of a Woman Growing in Christ

 

a.                   To love their husbands

 

b.                  And children

 

c.                   To be self-controlled

 

d.                  And pure

 

e.                   To be workers at home

 

f.                   And kind

 

g.                  To be subject to their own husbands

 

Conclusion:

 

1.                  Proverbs 31:28 in a new light

 

2.                  “Which in God’s sight is very precious”