Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.
The instruction stands within the extended counsel of 1 Timothy 5:3-16 on the care of widows. It lays upon the church the duty to examine individual cases and to extend help to those who are genuinely in need. That help is to be given with wisdom and discernment, weighing circumstances and responsibility, rather than by uncritical or indiscriminate provision. In that setting the warning is directed to younger widows who take upon themselves a pledge to remain in widowhood as a service to the church. If they afterward set aside that first pledge of faith, they bring condemnation upon themselves.
The instruction stands within the extended counsel of 1 Timothy 5:3-16 on the care of widows. It lays upon the church the duty to examine individual cases and to extend help to those who are genuinely in need. That help is to be given with wisdom and discernment, weighing circumstances and responsibility, rather than by uncritical or indiscriminate provision. In that setting the warning is directed to younger widows who take upon themselves a pledge to remain in widowhood as a service to the church. If they afterward set aside that first pledge of faith, they bring condemnation upon themselves.