Titus 2:3
The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
The verse commands older women to live in conduct fitting holiness, free from slander and excess wine, and to be teachers of what is good. Such holy conduct means sober, grave, temperate and pure words, deportment and character, with Christ enthroned in the heart, rejecting all lightness, jesting, flirting and licentiousness. The good they are to teach is to train younger women to be sober, loving to husbands and children, discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good and obedient, while all believers show a pattern of good works in sound speech. Their sacred calling is in the home as faithful wives and mothers who train their own children by precept and example, and leaving husband and children for supposed greater religious work is contrary to this command and a deception. By such consistent, elevated lives they guide the young in godly living so that the word of God is not dishonored or blasphemed.
Meaning and Conduct
The instruction through Paul to Titus is the words of Jesus Christ, in which the Spirit and the Word agree. It commands aged women to live in behavior fitting holiness, to avoid false accusation or slander and excess wine, and to be teachers of good things. Their example and teaching guide younger women in godly, sober conduct, in loving their families and acting with discretion and purity, so that the word of God is not dishonored.
Behavior becoming holiness means Christian words, deportment, and character that are sober, grave, temperate, and pure. It requires sober thinking with Jesus enthroned in the heart instead of thoughts running riot.
That holy sobriety forbids love-sick sentimentalism and the flirting of married men with young girls, married women, or widows. It forbids all lightness, trifling, jesting, joking, levity, and licentiousness, even when excused as thoughtlessness or as no moral wrong. Believers are therefore to reject frivolous speech and conduct and to let sound teaching and good works shape life.
The speech of older women is to be sanctified for teaching Bible truth. In that sanctified speech and conduct they help form younger women in godly living.
Mentoring in the Home
The good things the aged women are to teach are spelled out in the verses that follow as training young women to be sober, to love their husbands and to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, and obedient to their own husbands, with young men likewise to be sober-minded and all to be a pattern of good works in sound speech. Their example and instruction are to shape younger women toward sober, discreet, and pure family love and godly conduct. That teaching of home virtue is what keeps the word of God from being blasphemed.
Their God-given work is not public work but the very important work in their own home. It is a sacred, holy calling to be true as wife and mother, lovable, patient, kind yet firm, to exemplify the Christian graces, and to train their own children by precept and example and by right methods and tact to keep the way of the Lord. Faithful love for husband and children and faithfulness in home duties are themselves the Christian calling lived out through care and training of the family.
Neglecting husband and children for what are supposed to be greater and holier religious duties goes directly contrary to the verse. Attending meetings, working for others, giving Bible readings, or carrying messages for others can never excuse such neglect, for God never gives work contrary to His own Word. The religion of Christ never leads a wife and mother away from her first duty in the home. Any teaching that leads to even the slightest neglect of home duty in that way is not prompted by the Spirit of the Lord but is a deception of Satan.
Keeping at home means a wife finds her sweetest, happiest, best enjoyment at home among her own family. She practices self-denial and economy to save money and her husband's time, and does not seek her own pleasure in much visiting. Undue or extravagant love for visiting breaks the command to be keepers at home, leads to expense, becomes a snare, and hurts spiritual enjoyment. A true and loving Christian is seldom lonesome but draws elevated joy and sweet consolation from Jesus, and finds common visiting and common conversation upon commonplace worldly things disgusting and offensive.
This example and teaching guide younger women in godly, sober, faithful living so that the word of God is not blasphemed, dishonored, or discredited. The conduct of those who profess to serve Christ determines whether God is honored or the truth is reproached. Consistent, elevated lives in sound doctrine benefit both those who preach the word and those who hear it.
Wider Application to All
The charge to be a teacher of good things reaches beyond aged women to every servant of God as a call to rise continually to a higher standard in education and religious experience. It requires putting every entrusted talent to active use so that it grows in value and is returned to God, rather than remaining defective in manner, voice, or education. Growth comes through careful observation, study, and communion with God, letting the word of God give wisdom, guidance, and perfection in Christ. Christ stands as the faultless pattern to copy in understanding spiritual things and in wisely managing what is entrusted, for God allows no excuse for careless, slipshod work and such work is unacceptable to Him. That same charge to teach what is good also embraces young men, who when trained to mature and upright character become able to impart good.