Spirit Lead

DEVOTION
1 TIMOTHY
SPIRIT LEAD
1 Tim 5:9-10
9 No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, 10 and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.
NIV
I am not going to get involved in this one, enough said right there. I would only be getting myself into a lot of trouble if any widow ever read my thoughts about what this is all about and how it relates to the post modern church. It certainly has not a single thing to do with my life and relationship with my Lord and Savior. Now there might be one exception, one thing which relates to me. I could be part of the group, or I could be the one, at least in my life who determines if a widow should be on the list or not. That sure seems to be the main concern here as to whether a widow should or should not be on a list that is used the purpose of deeming them in real need. It would appear a judgment should be made before offering assistance to a widow. Again I am not going to delve into these requirements except to say, maybe I should not be so available to assist unless I have seen these standards being met by the widow asking for help. If a widow is self centered, not being involved within the body of Christ, not serving in some capacity, doing what she can for others, than perhaps she is not in real need and should not be on the list. No, I am not going to start down that path. I have to stick to my responsibilities here. I am to help and assist those widows who are in real need, and who have lived and are living according to these standards. But what about those widows who appear to be in real need and have not and are not living up to these standards? How do I deal with that? Do I refuse to help them? How can I do that? How can I simply tell them no, you are not on the list. That does not sound Christ-like, yet this is the word of God and he has placed standards for widows to live by in order for them to be cared for by other members of the body. It is perplexing at best. I would really not want to refuse to help when asked, and I certainly would not ask them all these questions about their lives and then tell them based on the evidence you are not on the list and I should not be helping you. And again, what about older woman who were divorced and are not widows? Should they be meeting these standards in order to receive assistance? I think here is where I need to rely on the leading of the Spirit. I need to simply rely on him telling me who and when to be a help to. He is in charge of all of this, I must be Spirit lead.