The three pastoral letters or epistles are books of the canonical New Testament: the First Epistle to Timothy (1 Timothy) the Second Epistle to Timothy (2 Timothy) and the Epistle to Titus. They are letters from Paul the Apostle to Timothy and to Titus. They are generally discussed as a group (sometimes with the addition of the Epistle to Philemon) and are given the title pastoral because they are addressed to individuals with pastoral oversight of churches and discuss issues of Christian living, doctrine and leadership. While the title is not technically quite correct in that the Epistles do not deal with pastoral duties in the sense of the cure of souls, yet it is popularly appropriate as denoting the essentially practical nature of the subject matter as distinguished from the other Epistles attributed to Paul. The term "pastorals" was popularised in 1703 by D. N. Berdot and in 1726 by Paul Anton.

1 Timothy 5:7 Avoiding blameworthiness

1 Timothy 5:7 Give the people these instructions, so that no one may be open to blame.
In the midst of what he to say about widows in the church and how this is all to be arranged Paul says to Timothy that he must Give the people these instructions. This is so that no one may be open to blame. The closer context is that of younger widows who start off wanting to be on the list of widows as an act of devotion to God but soon start living for pleasure and so do themselves no good and the church no good. Paul is not simply telling Timothy this but he wants all the congregation to be wise to the dangers in this and similar situations. What pastors find in the Bible they should share with the people. This will save the people from being open to blame.
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