A little bit behind but here are chapters 5 and 6...

Titus 2:3 - "the older women [are to] be...not given to much wine.

Okay, well that's not hard being that I'm Nazarene, right. Well, this can be applied to many other things.

First off, let's look at the 3rd and 4th words - to much. Paul didn't tell Titus to teach that they shouldn't drink wine but that they should not be given to much wine. We are to live in a manner that is characterized by moderation and restraint in all things and in all areas of life. This is where the bulk of the study focuses this week. Now before I get responses about whether we should drink at all...please refrain as the point of this scripture is that we are to learn self-control, moderator, personal discipline...in all areas of our life. Moderation in our food, in our purchases, in our TV watching, in our speech, in our emotions, etc.

Secondly, how does this relate to being a godly older woman and our influence on younger women? Well, you are living by example and you are allowing your life to be in control so that it allows time for you to minister to these ladies. It also makes us more approachable. If we are always out of control in our words or emotions, the younger women will see this and not be likely to come to us for counsel...and we have now lost out on a great God-given opportunity to minister to them.

There are three areas that Elizabeth talks about gaining control or being disciplined in: physical, emotional and practical. Physical being what you eat, drink, spend, watch, read, etc. Emotional being how we manage pressures and respond with a calm spirit. And practical being how we alot our time and manager our life so that we are not always behind the eight ball.

Will these three areas be easy to get under control...depends on how out of control they are. I think everyone of us has at least one thing under the physical category we could work on...and emotional...whooo. Practical would be the hardest for me because I am a no watch, last minute, figure it out kind of girl. Now that helps with the emotional area because things flow off my back pretty easily and I am able to be pretty calm under pressure. But if you talk about my discipline in cleaning or not overloading my schedule, etc. I need a lot of work and a lot of prayer in this area.

This chapter was good for me because I learned that not only is personal discipline a good thing...it's a Biblical thing that God requires from each of us. And if I'm not following these guidelines, I'm not following God's will for my life. Ouch! That makes it more of a priority now huh.

My goal, even though I'm 21+ weeks pregnant and tired all the time, God requires me to make this a priority in my life...so I will make a point of working on my practical disciplines at home this week and going forward. There are so many benefits...less work to do if you are in control of your schedule and work load, becoming a better model for my son and those around me, I will be able to spend more time with my friends and family because my environment won't have control over me but instead me over it and I will become a more godly woman.

One statement Elizabeth makes is " A woman who is in control of self, not controlled by self."