1 Timothy 5:3-4 (NET) Honor widows who are truly in need.
From my study of the Bible, I have found that there are three groups of people God is particularly concerned about because of the peculiarity of their need. They include the widows, the orphans, and the aliens or refugees(See Jeremiah 22:3, James 1:27, Deuteronomy 10:17-18, Psalm 146:9). These are people that find themselves in disadvantaged situations and could suffer a great deal if no one comes to their rescue.
The word translated as honor in today’s Bible verse is a word that depicts the giving of an honorarium. An honorarium is defined as a payment in which custom or propriety forbids a price to be set. When scriptures say ‘honor your father and mother’, this is what it means. You are to give them an honorarium. Honoring your parents doesn’t just mean bowing to great them and leaving them to go hungry, it means setting aside money regularly to give to them.
The church is expected to give to widows in need. In the old days, women hardly did jobs with sufficient income that could take care of their children, so if they became widows, they became really stranded and in need of help. Even today, there are widows like that in the church, and it is God’s will that the church sets aside resources for them. It is not good for children of widows in the church to be left to become street kids and vagabonds because no one takes care of them.
Go into today remembering that godliness involves giving to the needy around you (see James 1:27). This is one of the most effective ways of shinning the light of the gospel.
Prayer: Thank You Father for the privilege to give to you. Please give me a heart that truly cares for the needy and shines Your light to them. Amen.