Refuse Younger Widows

Younger widows were not eligible to be 'put on the list' for single-hearted service of Christ in the church. Paul's concern was, because of their youth and likely eventual desire for a husband, that the younger widows would abandon the ministry (and therefore their pledge to it) and/or abuse the ministry through idleness and gossip.

Instead, Paul commands the younger widows to marry, bear children, and be keepers at home. Thus the pattern is clear--from the older widows' qualifications to the younger widows' commands to the good teaching the older women are to give the younger (Titus 2:3-5)--that the place of honor, service and immeasurable worth for the godly woman centers on the home and family.