Younger women: This applies to Christian teens, college age, young adults, but especially to those who have married and started families. What characteristics do they need?

• Sober—to have desires and passions well regulated, or under proper control.[1]

• Love for husbands. Woman was originally created to be a “help meet” (suitable helper) for man (Genesis 2:18) and a mother of children—to be “fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis 1:28). The New Testament reiterates these original roles four thousand years later: “I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully” (1 Timothy 5:14). Paul had commanded husbands to love their wives and wives to respect their husbands (Ephesians 5:25, 33), but here he turns the tables and instructs women to “love their husbands” (philan drous,[2] literally to be “fond of”). Albert Barnes writes, “ All happiness in the marriage relation is based on mutual love. When that departs, happiness departs. No wealth or splendor in a dwelling—no gorgeousness of equipage or apparel—no magnificence of entertainment or sweetness of music—and no forms of courtesy and politeness, can be a compensation for the want of affection.” A godly woman cultivates this characteristic and does not allow outside interests to take so much of her time and energy that she fails daily to show fondness for her husband.

• Love for children. Some are so depraved as to have no maternal affection (Romans 1:31). Others can become so distracted by careers and pleasure pursuits, or so overwhelmed by responsibilities, that they allow their children to suffer.

• Discreet—uses good judgment. “Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee” (Proverbs 2:11).

• Chaste—Pureness of heart evidenced by modesty in appearance (1 Timothy 2:9), cleanness in speech (Ephesians 4:29), and distaste for questionable entertainment (Philippians 4:8).

• Keepers at home—literally, “guardians of the house,” “workers at home,” or “active in household duties.”[3] Barnes adds: “ Attentive to their domestic concerns, or to their duties in their families . . . This does not mean, of course, that they are never to go abroad, but they are not to neglect their domestic affairs; they are not to be better known abroad than at home; they are not to omit their own duties... however much good may be actually done abroad, religion has gained nothing, on the whole, if, in order to secure these things, the duties of a wife and mother at home have been disregarded. Our first duty is at home, and all other duties will be well performed just in proportion as that is.”

 This idea runs counter to our culture, as most of the gospel does, so our daughters need often to be shown God’s higher ideals so they can be drawn to greater joy and more meaningful lives than the world’s view offers.

Matthew Henry makes a connection between chaste and keepers at home, pointing out that Dinah, when she went to see the daughters of the land, lost her chastity (Genesis 34:1–2). Sarah was found “in her tent” (Genesis 18:9), while the woman Solomon warned his son about had feet that “abide not in her house” (Proverbs 7:11; cf. 1 Timothy 5:13). Henry’s idea may seem far-fetched until one considers that 46 percent of women and 62 percent of men have affairs with people at work.[4] The breakup of many homes has occurred when husbands and wives spent more time daily with coworkers of the opposite sex than with their spouses. This should be avoided when possible, but when it cannot be helped, special effort must be put into keeping the home fires burning brightly.

• Good— kind, beneficent. Dorcas, for instance, was “full of good works and almsdeeds” (Acts 9:36).

• Obedient to their own husbands—literally, submissive. Countercultural, again, but when seen in a relationship where a husband loves his wife “as his own body” (Ephesians 5:28), it produces trust, security, and harmony.

Younger men:  

• Sober minded—“discreet; temperate, abstinent; watchful.”[5] It includes refraining from alcohol and sexual temptations. Young men should be “steady in their behavior, superior to sensual temptations, and constant in the exercise of every part of self-government.”[6] They should not act a fool or use substances that cause them to lose control (Romans 6:13).

• In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works—“Not merely teaching others, but showing them by example how they ought to live.”[7] Paul explained it more clearly to Timothy: “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).

• In doctrine shewing uncorruptness—Not compromising principle even in a hostile environment. Erroneous teaching or example injures others’ morals and endangers their salvation.

• Gravity—shows good sense in interacting with others, an undoubted piety in morals, a serious attitude in his work ethic, and earnestness in his worship and spiritual service.

• Sincerity—incorruption; here synonymous with purity.

• Sound speech that cannot be condemned—literally, “healthy words.” He rigidly avoids the temptation of foul and dirty language, as well as innuendoes and euphemisms—even in sports and when no adults or women are around.

 “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:20).