Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
The advice to Timothy in 4:12 “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young,” appropriately prefaces Timothy’s role as the one who will exhort the believers in Ephesus, men and women of all ages. Exhort in 5:1 comes from the same root word as preaching in 4:13. It doesn’t mean to command but rather to “urge” members of the family to conduct themselves appropriately in love. These verses remind us of the familial relationship among Christians. Timothy is to treat older men as fathers, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. These verses also suggest that the false teachers in Ephesus did not treat others this way.