And the Bible's real clear here that what makes a virtuous woman in God's eyes is a
woman who is not idle.
And what does it mean to be idle?
Well, if you would go to 1 Timothy chapter 5, and I'll show you what the Bible says about
idleness in respect to ladies.
The Bible talks about in 1 Timothy chapter 5 the subject of widows, and it's explaining
the fact that, you know, if a lady who is under 60 years old and her husband dies, how
it's best for that woman to get remarried so that she does not become idle because she
doesn't have anything to do, and that's what's being explained here in 1 Timothy 5.
Starting verse number 9, it says, "Let not a widow be taken into the number under three
score years old, having been the wife of one man, well reported of for good works, if she
brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she
have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.
But the younger widows refuse, for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ they
will marry, having damnation because they have cast off their first faith.
And with all they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house.
So here we get a little more in depth of what God's talking about when He talks about idleness
in women.
He says, "With all they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not
only idle, but tattlers also, and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not, I will
therefore that the younger women," meaning younger than 60, "marry, bear children, guide
the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully, for some are already
turned aside after Satan."
And so what is the Bible teaching here?
It's teaching that idleness, and first of all let me just define the word idle for you
in case you don't know what it means.
When you are in your car and you're not driving anywhere, but the engine is running, what
do we call that?
You're idling, right?
When you're just sitting at the red light, the engine is running, but you're not going
anywhere.
You're not doing anything.
You're just sitting there and you're not driving.
That is called idling the vehicle, okay?
So a woman who is idle or a man who is idle is basically someone who is not doing anything,
right?
And when we say not doing anything, we mean not doing anything productive, not doing anything
that has any value to themself, to their family, to the Lord.
They're just sitting around just idling, just getting nothing done.
Well, you know, the word that would be associated with this would be laziness.
People who are lazy, and often in the book of Proverbs, laziness and idleness go hand
in hand.
You know, you're lazy, so you sit around, you do nothing, you don't get anything done.
Now, here it says, "With all they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house,
and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they are not."
So the Bible is saying idleness is bad enough in a woman, just getting nothing done, sitting
around, wasting the day.
And modern day, this would be sitting in front of a soap opera all day.
This would be just sitting around and playing a video game all day.
We think of video games as being a guy thing.
But honestly, there are women who get caught up in a computer video game.
Is that something productive?
Is that spinning wool and flax with your hand?
Or is that just idleness and just a waste of time?
And look, it's one thing to play around with something for a little recreation, but when
this becomes a lifestyle of daily idleness.