Dear older women,
We have a situation.
We have a severe shortage of godly, older women who are taking their roles seriously.
While I think some of the reason is because many simply don’t feel qualified and are feeling like they aren’t needed, there are others who have bought into the lie of the enemy, have dropped their Biblical worldview and exchanged it for a worldly one.
So as I write to you today, it is not with the intention to shame you or put you on a guilt trip. It is to encourage you, revitalize you and remind you of the incredible position God has put you in.
It is to remind you that you are needed…badly.
So buckle up, get a cup of tea or coffee, put your glasses on, enlarge the font and let’s get going.
I don’t know if you realize this or not, but while many commands in the Bible are given to Christians as whole, there is one command that is given just to older women!
A job that is not for the young, energized, goes-out-past-8-pm women…but, YOU!
The one whose energy level has started going down, whose body has started to wear out, who is falling behind when it comes to new technology and trendy fashion, and who have started to feeling completely unneeded in a lot of ways.
Listen, I know that getting old is hard. I do. I know the frustrations of seeing more wrinkles, age spots and gray hair. I know the annoyance of throwing out your back and forgetting why you walked into the kitchen. I know it’s irritating to feel tired and worn out and like you just can’t keep up anymore. But take a look at this passage for a minute to be reminded that God took the time to single you out.
God is taking the time to think of you. YOU!!
I could just tear up thinking about it because I feel like it shows the tenderness of our Father.
As women, you spend so much of your lives being needed. Needed to make dinner, change diapers, do dishes, pack lunches, wipe away tears, be a listening ear, drive everyone everywhere, and the list goes on and on.
Yet, the older you get, the less and less you become “needed”.
How gentle God is to give a job to the women who can feel like they aren’t needed anymore!
Girlfriends, he is talking to YOU! Can you even believe it?!
So now.
Now that you know you have been hand selected for this, I need you to really pay attention to what this job entails.
You need to put aside all those temptations to feel sorry for yourself, and those intrusive thoughts that come in and tell you that the younger women are fine and can do everything without you…and just focus on obeying.
I can not emphasize enough how serious this job is and how few people are stepping up to the role.
So it’s time, my sweet sisters.
It’s time to accept the position, get the job requirements and start working.
Here’s what Titus 2 tells you to do:
You need to be reverent in the way you live…that includes how you spend your time. Reality shows, books and videos that glamorize unbiblical sexual relationships, ungodly behavior and filthy language are not what you should be filling your minds with. Spend your time doing things that are more productive and that don’t encourage laziness.
You should not slander. LADIES. Stop using words like “vent” and “getting it off my chest” to replace the words they actually are. Slander. Gossip.
Stop saying “well, I probably shouldn’t say” and then saying it anyways.
You should be the example in this to all younger women. The minute you hear someone talking poorly about someone else, stop them and suggest that you both take a minute to pray for that person. Then say something positive about them.
You should be past that petty, childish behavior.
You should be different. Don’t allow it. Don’t stand for it. Cultivate an absolute abhorrence for anything that causes division. Do you know that God hates the ones who sow discord among the brethren? So while you are complaining to your bff over coffee about how that other lady from church always rubs you the wrong way, you are doing something God despises. Call it what it is. It’s not just getting it off your chest, it’s sowing discord and it has no place in your life whatsoever.
Don’t be addicted to much wine. Listen, I am not going to get into the details of what alcohol was like in the time of the Bible compared to the levels it is now. But I am going to say this. The Bible describes alcohol as a mocker and as poison and says that if you are deceived by it, you are unwise. So for me? I don’t drink it. I don’t think of it as anything I’m giving up. It’s just easier to not drink it at all. There is no danger of me drinking too much, of someone else seeing me drinking and using it as a way to justify them drinking. I just don’t drink. But whether you choose to drink or not, you can never be drunk and you can not be addicted. Wine mom culture is a thing. And as an older woman, you need to show by example that being sober minded is what God wants. You need to show women that they can be filled with the Spirit and that that alone is enough to bring incredible peace and joy and fulfillment.
The last thing Titus 2 tells you to do, is to teach what is good.
So let me tell you what’s happening here. The younger women are doing all the talking, all the speaking and all the training. And the more they talk, the more they put themselves out there as the authority on issues. While I don’t have any problem with our younger women speaking (I mean, obviously! We are ALL called to encourage and exhort each other) what I do have a problem with is those of you who decide to just sit back and let them appear as experts. Maybe it’s out of insecurity, maybe it’s out of tiredness, and maybe it’s because of outright disobedience.
But whatever the reasons are, they can not stand up against the fact that you are commanded by God to teach! So how are you doing that?
How are you showing the younger women how to love their husbands, what Biblical submission looks like, how to discipline their children, how to be kind, to be self controlled, and to stay pure?
Are you obeying this part of the verse?
I sure hope you are at least thinking about it, since there is a command specifically to you, the older woman.
So you, my sweet friend, have a choice to make now.
You have a choice to step up to the role that God has given you and say yes. Yes, I will step up and start mentoring the younger women.
I won’t let the younger women take over my job and I will do it cheerfully and with complete confidence, knowing that the one who gave me the job will equip me.
You are so, so needed.
Don’t sit back anymore and assume that everything is fine.
Trust me. I’m on the mom forums and everything is NOT fine.
I believe with all my heart that if all of the older, christian women stepped up to this role and started mentoring the way God commands, there would be an incredible revival.
I believe that if all the older women stopped gossiping, sowing discord, having self pity and retreating, amazing things would happen.
Be bold! Don’t be afraid to speak up for the truth! But in order to speak boldly on the truth, you have to KNOW the truth.
So get in the Word, ladies. Dig in deep. Study it. Live it. Love it. Teach it.
The Word will put a stop to all the misconceptions and lies that are being spread around and it is the only thing that can change lives.
It will help you recognize false doctrines that are constantly being fed to the younger women. They are having lies thrown at them all day every day. It’s in the form of podcasts, tv shows, social media and it is packaged with pretty backgrounds, rhyming words and Bible verses taken out of context.
They need older women who they see every week to help them fight against that and help them to know the truth! They need you to use discernment and wisdom and help them decipher what they should listen to and what they should not
Find young women around you and speak into them. Exhort and encourage them. It doesn’t have to be a formal program, but it has to be something.
Get up (but not too fast, you don’t want to throw your back out) and get mentoring.
I truly believe that our lives depend on it.
I am right there with you.
So much love,
Rachelle