Part 2. Provide things honorable in the sight of all men 

He Must Provide for His Own
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This text is rather startling in its expression of disapproval for Christians who fail to provide for members of their household. These words, therefore, command our attention and consideration, lest we find ourselves to be guilty of this neglect. Certainly, based upon the severity of the Apostle Paul’s language, this teaching meets the criteria to be Essential Doctrine for Christians.

One would expect that any teaching that is absolutely vital for the Christian to understand and maintain would be easily grasped and apparent. Such is this case. The principal meaning in this text is that the Christian believer has a responsibility and duty to provide for the proper care and maintenance for every person who is dependent on him or her -- particularly and especially for their food, shelter, and clothing. This responsibility applies not only to young dependent children, but also to our aged parents or grandparents as the need becomes apparent.

We can see from reading 1 Timothy 5:3-10 (RVIC), the context of our verse under consideration, that the topic was the temporal and material care and provision of widows in the Church. Apostle Paul in this passage makes a distinction between those “widows indeed” who are alone and desolate and are to be “honored” with the provision of care by the Church (verses 3 and 5), and other widows who have children or grandchildren that can care for them (verse 4). About the adult children and grandchildren of widows, he says “let them learn first to show piety towards their own family, and to requite their parents: for this is acceptable in the sight of God.” In verse 7, Paul strengthens this counsel into a command that must be followed, so “that they [the progeny] may be without reproach.” Verse 8 proceeds as a corollary when this “command” is not followed: “But if any provideth not for his own [“family,” i.e., widowed parents or grandparents], and specially his own household [wife, children, servants], he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever.” Even though the Apostle has been focused on the provision for widows, he includes here in verse 8 a special mention of all immediate members of the household who are dependent on the householder for their care, shelter, and sustenance. It is thus evident that, as in the entire passage of 1 Timothy 5:3-10, Paul is referring to the care of temporal and material needs exclusively, since the injunction to provide applies as well for the aged widowed parent(s) or grandparent(s) (who already would have attained advanced moral and/or spiritual development) as it does for the young children of the household.

It will not do for the consecrated Christian to consider that because their all is devoted to God and to his service, that they can therefore abrogate their family responsibilities and obligations. An example of this type of neglect occurred when the Pharisees neglected their elderly parents because they claimed to have dedicated their funds to God, calling it “Corban” (Mark 7:9-13). Jesus plainly told them that they made the commandment “Honor thy father and thy mother” (Exod. 20:12) of no effect. In this manner they evaded their responsibility to their families. We are to exact utmost care that such hypocrisy does not occur in our Christian lives. Service to God includes service to our families.

In many of the world’s present-day governments and economic systems, governmental institutions and policies are in place to provide a certain level of financial and health-care assistance to the aging population, such as Social Security and Medicare in the U.S. While such societal assistance is very helpful, it does not free the children of the aged from their responsibility to ensure that their parents and grandparents are properly cared for.

Our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus provide us good examples of tender care and provision for those dependent upon them. In the creation account of Genesis, we see God’s loving provision for our first parents in preparing this beautiful earth as a habitation for them and their posterity, where he provides sunlight, water, food, and shelter (Genesis 1 and 2; Psalm 104). When the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, God made special provision of manna for their sustenance, and also provided that their clothing and shoes would not wear out for the duration (Exodus 16:35, Joshua 5:12, Deuteronomy 29:5). When the multitudes followed Jesus for so long and so far that they were on the brink of collapsing from hunger, they essentially became his dependents for that time, and he took compassion on them and provided food for “four thousand, besides women and children” (Matthew 15:32, 38). In John’s vision of the revelation of Jesus Christ, he saw a representation of the glorified Jesus walking among seven golden candlesticks, signifying Jesus’ tender care and oversight for the Gospel Age church during the periods of the Seven Churches (Revelation 1:12).

We see the teaching of 1 Timothy 5:4,8 particularly exemplified in Jesus as he provided for his mother, Mary. Even though in his own final agony on the cross, he was not hindered from thinking of his mother, and making provision for her. He spoke to John, his disciple, to behold his mother, and thus commended her to John’s care. From that time, John took Mary into his household and looked after her (John 19:26-27).

Jesus, quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3, said “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Thus, we can readily see that the proper spirit would be to provide for the temporal needs of dependents and to also include their spiritual needs, especially and particularly the young children (Ephesians 6:4). As we are fed by the Heavenly Father with spiritual bread from heaven, so we should dispense to those under our charge the wonderful words of life as much as we are able. We should provide the young children with spiritual shelter from the world and from worldly thinking so as to provide time for spiritual activities and promote learning of Bible stories, promises, teachings, examples, lessons, and principles.

In providing for the younger children, there must not be a neglect of those things necessary for the maintenance of this life and the avoidance of becoming a burden on either Christians or society in general. Advice from Bro. Russell (Reprints 2021), is pertinent: “If you have children, you brought them into the world and are responsible for them and to God accordingly: you owe them not only religious instruction but secular education and a business or trade preparation, to fit them for and start them in life. If unprepared or unwilling to give them this reasonable start, you should not have begotten them. Having begotten them, they are a first mortgage upon your time, influence, and means: and in providing for them you will be blest. Not even the gospel has a prior claim upon your time.”

The lesson of providing for “our own house” also properly extends spiritually to providing for our brethren in Christ -- the elderly ones, our fellow Brothers and Sisters, and our spiritual children -- as Paul instructs us elsewhere to do good to all, especially the “household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). The Apostle Paul himself, though unattached and unfettered with the responsibility of earthly family, took the principle to heart in his provision of spiritual food and bounty to his spiritual family. As he said in 2 Corinthians 12:14,15 (NAS): “Here for this third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I do not seek what is yours, but you; for children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. And I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls.”

Beyond necessities of food, shelter, and clothing; and provision of mental, moral, and spiritual education, it is for each of those with dependents to decide for ourselves how much more of the things of this world to provide for their children. We should avoid excess and be moderate in what we provide (Philippians 4:5); and exercise the spirit of a sound mind as pertains to the welfare and enjoyment of the family (2 Timothy 1:7). Our family may need our time with them more than extra income to buy them more things. We need to make sure that we are not just pleasing our own flesh for possessions and things. Perhaps Lot, too, located his household into the lush green valley of the Jordan, at Sodom, thinking he was making the best provision for his family. They lost it all! (Genesis 19)