2 Timothy 3:6

My wife said, “What you are doing is stupid.” I became angry because I heard, “You are stupid.” Miscommunication happens when we hear what we believe is meant rather than what is really said. The same miscommunication happens when we read what we believe into what is written rather than allowing what is written to speak for itself.

Paul was warning Timothy against false teachers who wormed their way into homes and gained control over gullible women. He did not write and did not believe that all women are gullible. In spite of what is written, some men insist upon reading their own system of beliefs into these words.

In Ephesus, women with homes were almost always widows of wealthy men. These false preachers focused upon these women because once they had wormed their way into the home, it gave them a base of operations to build their cult following. We have seen in modern history the same order of events happening. Cult leaders surround themselves with women, and that forms the nucleus of their following. Paul wrote that this type of woman was loaded down with sins and swayed by all kinds of evil desires. We are not sure which definition of sin Paul was using; perhaps he is using all three. These women were being willfully disobedient to God’s will, they were also missing the mark, and they were without any doubt the victims of evil let loose in the world. Paul wrote that they were swayed by evil desires. A woman whose husband had died would naturally desire love, affection, attention, security, purpose, and meaningful relationships. However when those desires became so strong that it swayed them to ignore the truth, those desires became evil.

Both men and women are susceptible to the perversion of normal healthy desires. Any desire that is strong enough to sway us to ignore the truth of righteousness and to be disobedient is evil. Evil desire makes us gullible. A desire to please Jesus will make us wise.