Yesterday, we read on the subject of older men, but as you know, men are only half the story. As we read yesterday, men have their issues, but women have challenges of their own.
The first from this passage is a woman's lack of respect and submission to her husband's authority. From The Fall of man, God told Eve that her "desire would be for her husband" (Genesis 3:16). A more accurate translation of this verse would be, "Your desire will be to control your husband." This desire for control leads a woman to irreverence or a lack of respect for her man. Society has emasculated men through humiliation, disrespect, and dishonor, but as a woman matures, this respect for her man hopefully grows.
With "The Fall" of Genesis 3:6-7 came "The Curse" of Genesis 3:16. The Curse instigated a constant battle for a woman to relinquish leadership to her man through Biblical submission (Ephesians 5:21-24, Colossians 3:18).
As I write this, I can feel tensions rise. That is okay because truth overcomes all tension. Men have been emasculated by the media, and women, for the most part, have bought this lie hook, line, and sinker. If you do not believe me, then just watch reruns of "Everybody Loves Raymond," "King of Queens," and the many other shows that paint men as pathetic and inferior.
The next challenge for women we read in this passage is that of words, or "not to be slanderers." On average, women speak up to 30,000 words a day compared to only 10,000 spoken by men. This is nearly two to three times more! The Bible says, "Where words are many, sin is not absent. (Proverbs 10:19)" As a woman matures, she needs to control her tongue (James 3:5-9), and monitor how she chooses to share the overflow of her heart as found in Matthew 12:34-26.
The last challenge for a woman is to stay away from being "addicted to much wine." As a young, non-believing teenager, I used to "occasionally" drink illegally with my buddies to feel good (temporarily), laugh, and to do crazy stuff. For me, there was little emotional tie to this behavior.
Girls were different. It seemed they drank for reasons of acceptance, love, and as crazy as it sounds, self-esteem. Since typically women are smaller than men, it takes less to affect a woman's self-control, and these gals often acted out in scandalous ways.
I really believe this behavior over time can be a weapon of mass destruction that a woman must conquer in order to see herself as God sees her. Even in Christian circles, I see a propensity for alcohol abuse in women more than men, which always makes me a little curious. Just a thought, but we know from Scripture that Paul also saw this as an issue for women, and so should we.