With Age Comes Responsibility

 

With age comes responsibility.  This is something we all know at some level.

I remember being taught that with each birthday a child celebrates they should receive a new privilege and a new responsibility. What a great way to teach children that age is connected to expectations regarding responsibility, and maturity.

How does this apply as we get older…much older?

Many of us try to be diligent about what we can do to stay healthy and active while at the same time noticing “crepe” skin and everything on our bodies shifting south.

It also seems that we spend more and more time thinking about what a “woman my age” should be doing to serve the Lord in our families, with our neighbors, and the Church. The Bible is pretty clear on the importance of handing down a spiritual inheritance as well as a material one (Psalm 78:5-7; Proverbs 13:22).

There are several verses that address how to speak to and respect an older person. 1 Timothy 5:1-2 stand out:  “Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity” (NKJV).

And, Leviticus 19:32, “You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the LORD.” (NKJV).

Also to be considered is Proverbs 16:31: “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.”

This respect and honor that younger people are called to give to the older people does not come without a price. The “crown of glory” (which would indicate a certain level of honor being due the person) is achieved only by a righteous life.

In His grace God has poured out His Spirit on those who love Him so that we can be righteous by the shed blood of Christ. Because we will sin as descendants of Adam, we have to think about what the “righteous life” looks like for us. Obviously, God does not expect perfection but what responsibilities does He give the “older” Christian woman?

From Titus 2 we know He does expect us to teach the next generation. He leaves a list of seven things covering a broad spectrum of what we are to teach them:

• Love their husbands
• Love their children
• To be discreet
• To be chaste
• To be homemakers
• To be good
• To obey their husbands

It seems to me that if we (older Christians) want the honor the Bible talks about toward the elderly then we need to figure out what the “righteous life” looks like for us. Aging does not release us from any responsibilities, it, in fact, increases the expectation.

It is clearly not a time to sit in our rockers and shake our heads at what has happened in the Church of Jesus Christ. It is time to get ourselves out there (even if it is on an internet class) and teach younger women how to teach the next generation to live that “righteous life.” We will, thereby, help others to achieve that “crown of glory” they will receive for their righteous living.

As we watch our skin get “crepey” and the rest of our body aging, what could we prepare to do or teach? Will we take the initiative to invite some younger women to learn?

It is our responsibility.