6. But the widow who uses her life to please herself is really dead while she is still living.
7. Tell the believers there to do these things so that no one can say they are doing wrong.
8. A believer should take care of his own relatives, especially his own family. If he does not do that, he has turned against the faith. He is worse than a person who does not believe in God.
9. To be on your list of widows, a woman must be 60 years old or older. She must have been faithful to her husband.
10. She must be known as a woman who has done good works. By this, I mean good works such as raising her children, accepting visitors in her home, washing the feet of God’s people, helping those in trouble, and using her life to do all kinds of good deeds.
11. But do not put younger widows on that list. After they give themselves to Christ, they are often pulled away from him by their physical desires. And then they want to marry again.
12. And they will be judged for not doing what they first promised to do.
13. Also, those younger widows begin to waste their time going from house to house. They begin to gossip and busy themselves with other people’s lives. They say things that they should not say.
14. So I want the younger widows to marry, have children, and take care of their homes. If they do this, then no enemy will have any reason to criticize them.
15. But some of the younger widows have already turned away to follow Satan.
16. If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, then she should care for them herself. The church should not have to care for them. Then the church will be able to care for the widows who have no living family.
17. The elders who lead the church well should receive great honor. Those who work hard by speaking and teaching especially should receive great honor.