“And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not” (1 Timothy 5:13).
This verse presents us with another issue that carries modern-day implications: the threat of idleness and the temptation to “…start gossiping and become busybodies, talking about things that are none of [our[ business” (CEV).
From a first-century perspective, a Godly older widow was likely to hold a far different mindset than most younger widows. You see, the approaching prospect of departure from this earthly life would naturally serve to direct her attention to things of eternal significance. That, along with the maturity that often accompanies a lifetime’s worth of experience, would encourage an older widow to reject frivolous pursuits like gossip and nosiness in favor of activities that were far more spiritually productive.
However, a younger widow who was lacking in those qualities was likely to learn something far different: “They also begin to gossip and try to run other people’s lives” (ERV). Perhaps even more disturbing is the fact that these qualities were also characteristic of the false teachers who had worked their way into the first-century church. For instance, consider the similarities between the concerns noted here in 1 Timothy 5:13 and those who were promoting false doctrine in the early church…
“As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk” (1 Timothy 1:3-6).
“For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain” (Titus 1:10-11).
For a Godly young widow, this was not the sort of behavior that was appropriate to emulate. As another commentator observed centuries ago…
“It is a great error and abuse of religion, to make it a cloak for idleness or any other sin. The servant who waits for the coming of his Lord aright, must be working as his Lord has commanded. If we are idle, the devil and a corrupt heart will soon find us somewhat to do.” (1)
(1) Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary [Commentary on 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15] https://www.christianity.com/bible/commentary.php?com=mhc&b=53&c=3