DCLM DAILY MANNA DEVOTIONAL FOR OCTOBER 24, 2022 ( A PASTOR’S BURDEN)
TOPIC : A PASTOR’S BURDEN
TEXT: 1 Timothy 2:9-15
9. In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;
10. But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
11. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
12. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
13. For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
14. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
15. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
KEY VERSE:
“In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array.” – (1 Timothy 2:9).
MESSAGE
Powerful and wealthy women with a high social calling were a regular sight during youthful Timothy’s bishopric in Ephesus. They flaunted their opulence through showy and expensive apparel and hairdo.
Their presence in the church caused much stir and stole away the attention of worshippers. It also made less financially endowed women to envy and desire worldly acquisitions. The stage also began to be set for immorality among the people. These economically strong women became proud and sought unscriptural feminism. As a result, the spirituality of the church at Ephesus became threatened.
Apostle Paul was alarmed. So, he wrote to Timothy instructing him to take steps to bring back the Ephesian women to their proper positions in the church. They must not emulate the exhibitionist lifestyle of their environment. Ephesus was the city of promiscuity. It was the home of the goddess, Diana, whose worship bred temple harlots displaying provocative attire and braided hair. They were known for sacrilegious and carnal perversions that contradicted the teachings of the gospel.
The church was called out from this licentious culture and as an apostle, Paul had the responsibility to warn the sheepfold against a return to that past. A shepherd must not spare the rod of correction, no matter whose ox is gored. If he wants to please God who gave him the office, then he must deliver the whole truth about the qualifications for heaven. The abode of God is meant for only those who reject the sinful practices of the world.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
A true preacher must be burdened about a perishing soul.
