Join Alan J. Huth as he guides us through 1 Timothy Chapter 5, discussing the importance of respecting and providing for elders in our families and religious communities. This episode includes personal anecdotes alongside scriptural insights, illustrating the timeless nature of God’s word and its application to contemporary Christian life. Learn about the resources offered by the Ezra Project that aid in deeper Bible engagement.
00:04:04 Personal Reflections on Family Responsibility
00:07:14 Honoring Church Leaders and Personal Purity
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Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
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Today we are in 1 Timothy chapter 5 and we’ll listen to Faith Comes By Hearing’s recording of the 25 verses of this chapter. 1 Timothy 5
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Do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father. Younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity. Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents. For this is pleasing in the sight of God. She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day. But she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, and having a reputation for good works. If she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. but refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry, and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not. So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. For some have already strayed after Satan. If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows. Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the scripture says, You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain, and the laborer deserves his wages. Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin… Rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. In the presence of God, and of Christ Jesus, and of the elect angels, I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. The sins of some men are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.
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My 1992 journal says, I have responsibility to provide for my own, my family. Thank you for blessing me with provisions so far. And then I wrote, do nothing in a spirit of partiality. In 2002, from Bangkok, Thailand, I wrote, yesterday I was driven to Chonburi. The guy took me to a seaport restaurant with fresh seafood and to a Thai beach. Food was great. Beach was nice. And I wrote about 1 Timothy 5. Verses 4 through 8 relate to us now about dad. The family is to care for parents. My brother should read this. We all need to practice it. And then I wrote about verse 22. Do not share in the sins of others. The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them. The sins of others trail behind them. That’s verse 24. And then I wrote, walk worthy. 2002 was probably a time where we were taking care of my father. So that was the reference in the journal about my dad and my brothers. In 2012, I wrote about 1 Timothy 5. Encourage rather than rebuke people. Caring for the elderly, especially widows, is the first responsibility of the family. If no family, then the responsibility of the church. The church was the center of the community back then. It was the gathering place. There was no government to step into the responsibility. Imagine that today’s churches, rather than the government, would be caring for the elderly. A couple of my journals had entries about taking care of the elderly. Let’s go back and read what this passage says. Verse 4 says, So children, maybe even grandchildren, are to take care of the elderly. Verse 8 goes on to say, He has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. I have some personal experience with this. I live about 60 miles or an hour away from my parents. My mom went in for a heart procedure one time and got complications and never came out. So we never had to, quote, care for my mom. But after that, my father was alone. So I remember committing to drive to Colorado Springs from Denver about twice a week to see my dad. I tried to go once during the week and once on the weekend. Oh, I didn’t make it every week, but I did it as best as I could. I did it when my father was placed in a care facility. My other family members were very loving and caring as well. At the time, none of us lived in Colorado Springs, so it wasn’t as if we could take care of them ourselves. But looking back, I think our family fulfilled the requirements of these verses. If you have an elderly parent right now, hopefully this will be a reminder that you should be caring for your parents. And surely that looks different for each of us. Another interesting concept in this chapter is caring for our shepherds or our pastors. Let’s start by looking at verse 17. For the scripture says, These verses remind us to honor those in leadership in our churches. And they remind us to pay our pastors as well as we can. It’s too bad that so many pastors who serve in our churches seem to have to take an oath of poverty to do so. Remember, these verses say, let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, and the laborer deserves his wages. Let’s take care of those in Christian leadership. Let’s take care of our pastors. Lastly, Paul reminds Timothy once again to keep yourself pure. Is purity something you think about as a Christian? Do you think you have an obligation to keep yourself pure? As people see us, and they know that we’re Christians, they might see us at work, they might see us in school, they might see us in our neighborhood. Do they see us as pure? How are you reflecting Jesus Christ? Lord, these are challenges for us out of 1 Timothy 5. First of all, to take care of the elderly. Second of all, to take care of our pastors. And third, to take care of ourselves. And Lord, we all recognize that we’re humans and that we fail. So we ask you to forgive us where we fail and strengthen us so that we can do better. So that when people see us, they actually see a reflection of you. Holy Spirit, continue to purify us from the inside out. We ask for it. In Jesus’ name, amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. Across our listening audience, more and more of you are supporting AdBible by visiting our website at EzraProject.net and purchasing resources like Club 365 subscriptions, Bible reading journals, and one or more of our day-by-day through the Bible devotional books. We thank you so much and encourage more of you to do the same. these make great christmas gifts for families and friends it will encourage them to join you in bible engagement in 2026 you will find helpful and inspiring tools to enhance your personal time in god’s word we have a few weeks left in 2025 most people decide their bible reading game plan for the new year in december Today, I want to review a few tools you may want to consider for your reading plan in 2026 and share it with others. First, Club 365. This is a monthly subscription opening our vault of all AddBible audio recordings and all printed pages of the entire Day by Day Through the Bible devotional series. By joining Club 365 for only $7 a month, you have access to both audio and written information on all 66 books of the Bible. Club 365 is a goldmine, and it is completely flexible to your personal Bible reading plan. 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