βThe aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusersβ¦β (Titus 2:3).
Aged women should know that it is especially important for them to be holy, for women are the guardians of decency in society. Did you ever wonder why, in speaking of the sins of the ancient Gentile world, Paul wrote that βeven their womenβ were engaged in those abominable sins (Rom. 1:26)? It is because women, by their very nature, are more refined. We see this illustrated in the account of the creation of men and women. God made man from the dust of the earth, but He drew woman from the man. Thus women are by nature further removed from the dirt of which we men were created! Because of this, women can often rein us men in by simply being who they are. This is especially important for aged women, who must set an example for younger women.
But after telling aged women to be holy like the men, Paul singles out an area where it is harder for women to be holy when he says they shouldnβt be βfalse accusers.β If youβre wondering why women would have more trouble with that than men, itβs not because they talk more, as I might suggest if I were a sexist! It is because when women want to hurt someone, they tend to use their words and not their fists like us men. Thatβs why when Paul talked about the qualifications of a spiritual leader, he wrote,
βA bishop then must beβ¦ not given to wineβ¦ no strikerβ¦ not a brawlerβ (I Tim. 3:2,3).
But when he gave the qualifications for the wife of a spiritual leader, he wrote,
βEven so must their wives be grave, not slanderersβ (I Tim. 3:11).
The Greek word for βslanderersβ there is the same as the word translated βfalse accusersβ in our text, the word diabolos. Aged women need to be reminded that it is simply diabolical to slander someone by accusing them falsely.
And the reason Paul adds, βnot given to much wine,β isβwell, do you know what tends to make a woman slander someone? The same thing that tends to make a man strike someoneβmuch wine! Did you notice that before telling leaders to be βno strikers,β Paul tells them to be βnot given to wine?β And right after telling aged women not to be false accusers, he tells them the same thing? Thereβs just something about alcohol that overcomes a manβs natural inhibition to deck some jerk, and thereβs just something about it that overcomes a womanβs natural inhibition to slander someone as well.
But slandering and striking others is not very holy behavior. So by Godβs grace, letβs all determine to be in behavior as becometh holiness, to the glory and praise of God. source
