" STANDING UP FOR OUR WIDOWS "

Here we are once again, another time of sharing from the Word Of God. " You shall not afflict any Widow or Orphan " (Exodus 22:22). (Isaiah 1:17) " learn to Do Good, Seek Justice, Reprove the Ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the Widow." " WIDOW " defined in this way: A woman whose husband is dead. We are instructed in 1 Timothy 5:3 " Honor Widows who are widows indeed " (NASB). The new International Version puts it this way: Give proper recognition to those Widows who are really in need." Now Paul wanted Christian families to be as self-supporting as possible. Paul insisted that children and grandchildren take care of the Widows in their families (5:4); he also suggested that younger Widows remarry and start new families (5:14); and he ordered the church not to support lazy members who refused to work (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Please listen and adhere, we are told in the Word Of God to visit the orphans and Widows. Now in the first century, orphans and Widows had very little means of economic support. Unless a family member was willing to care for them, they were reduced to begging, selling themselves as slaves, or starving. Now, by caring for these powerless people, the church put God's Word into practice. When we give with no hope of receiving in return, we show what it means to serve others. keeping it real, in order to keep ourselves unstained by the world, we need to commit ourselves to Christ's ethical and moral system, not the world's. We are not to adopt to the world's value system, which is based on money, power, and pleasure. Truth Faith means nothing if we are contaminated with such values. Until next Time... Jim,