“Every wise woman builds her home ….” Proverbs 14:1
“The aged women likewise … That they may teach the young women to be … keepers at home …” Titus 2: 2, 3, 4
In the beginning
In Genesis, God gave humans (male and female) dominion over the whole earth. Genesis 1:26-27 says,
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
Humans are designed to be in charge of things, to have something to subdue and rule over. We collectively all take dominion over the earth, and men and women were each given “sub-domains”, if you will, to manage.
The home, the physical dwelling place of the family, was given to women to care for and oversee.
What is the home?
When the Bible mentions women and a house, it’s speaking of the building where they live. When it speaks of a man and his house, it means the generations, his lineage, the legacy, a nation.
It’s a blessing and honor to keep a home for a family. It’s where vision and purpose for the generations and nations is birthed. So often in the modern world, the home is seen merely as a place we sleep at night, a place to get out of, an afterthought. Household duties are seen as just that – duties that are done begrudgingly and hopefully as fast as possible.
If the duties can be hired out, even better!
Yet, the home captivates society. How many house shows are on television? How many social media outlets display pristine homes with the latest decor? There are countless stores just for things to fill houses. Average home size has grown over the recent decades while family size has waned.
There is something special about home. Happy homes represent peace, belonging, and love, all of which the world needs now more than ever. Of course, these things are ultimately only found in Christ, but the home is a vehicle that has been designed for these purposes.
Why is the home made for women?
Let’s look at three reasons – notice the physical, emotional, and spiritual – why the home is a beautiful place for women to find purpose and meaning, and serve the Lord.
Women are not designed to work like men
Men and women are different.
Our bodies don’t work the same at all. In general, strong healthy men are great at working very hard at a specific task for most of the day and then crash pretty hard once they get home. Have you noticed how many comic strips or tv shows or internet jokes exist about men falling asleep on the couch the instant they sit down, usually after work? It seems like they have one switch – on or off. They can work like this constantly for days and weeks and years and fare pretty well.
Compare that to women. Women are much better at a lower intensity for many more hours with many more moving pieces.
Think of a mom of four small children waking up early like the Proverbs 31 woman. She readies the house in peace before the children come down. They eat and do chores and school all day. Maybe they have a garden for vegetables or spend time at a playground or in the backyard in the sunshine. They laugh and play, blow bubbles, play music or patty-cake.
She answers 6,840 questions.
They do school lessons, different ones for each child. After dinner, there may be bath time then book time. Finally, bedtime comes and she stays with little ones to help them drift off. She tiptoes out and they sit up! She goes back for another half an hour. Finally, she gets some quiet time in the evening to close up any loose ends and prepare for the next day. She spends time with her husband. Maybe a child or baby wakes up in the night. All night her husband sleeps like a rock and has no clue she’s been in and out of bed multiple times. She gets up and does it again.
Women’s bodies are biologically designed for this. Mothers have supersonic hearing even when we’re asleep! We are usually more adept at juggling many tasks at once – keeping one thought on each child as we cook and wipe faces and kiss bumps and answer questions and think about tomorrow. Our hormones and brain structure equip us for this kind of daily life.
Women get tired and need rest. Thank goodness for naps! It’s so hard to power through for weeks and months and years. Even our hormone cycle just about forces us to sit down and rest ever so often. The ups and downs of the symphony of chemicals within us give us more or less energy, and we need to relax.
Women that try to work like machines (read: like MEN) get burnt out. The 9-5 grind is just that – grinding. People are working more hours than ever as work chases everyone home on their phone emails. Full time working young women put off having children because they know their plate doesn’t have any room left and something would have to give.
But women that stay home can make their own schedules and customize life to their needs. Some seasons or years allow you to be more busy and doing more events or community things and expend more energy, and other times when you need to retreat and be less committed, you can do that.
Home protects women from the world
The New Testament tells us that women are the weaker vessel (1 Peter 3:7). We need multiple layers of protection from capable godly men and being at home offers them all.
First, being at home protects us physically.
On average, women are physically weaker than men. Wars have been fought by men, all the great cities of the world have been built by the hands of men, and men have traditionally done most of the hard work of hunting down animals for food. It’s extremely unlikely that you will get attacked in your own home. The moment you leave the house, you are much less protected. Women are not likely to win a fight (with or without a weapon) against a man with a malicious agenda. The home is a physically safe place to be.
Secondly, women are more protected emotionally at home.
Commuting, work, co-worker relations, and being around worldly people is exhausting. It’s easy to pick up bad habits and get dragged down when you are around unbelievers all day every day. The stress of two careers brings many marriages to their knees as the couple has nothing left for each other at the end of the day.
Being out of the house provides more opportunities for living a life separate from your husband. You live as if you have different missions in life even though you are a unit God has joined. Not to mention, working out of the home brings up more temptation for unfruitful friendships and toxic affairs.
Lastly, it is the husband’s job to spiritually protect their wives.
Women are much more susceptible than men to poor doctrine and being led astray by false teachers as described in 2 Timothy: 6 about the end times:
“For of this sort are they (false teachers) which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts..”
Nowadays, the home is less safe from this kind of attack because of the invention of the internet and how easy it is to access millions of voices and opinions in the blink of an eye. For this reason alone we need to be extra careful of what we are letting into our minds. Still, being at home all day is one way to help keep us away from ungodly ideas.
Many mantras of the day are wrapped up in a nice bow that is palatable to Christians, but they are deceptive plots to keep us away from God’s truth and render us useless for God’s kingdom. Worldview compromise is almost always necessary for Christians not to ruffle any feathers. Staying at home allows us the freedom to live as we feel convicted without worrying about the career being on the line. It keeps the muck and mire as far away as possible.
The home is made for women to fulfill Proverbs 31 and Titus 2
Lastly, the home is a primary way that God has designed for women to carry out the example of the Proverbs 31 woman and take the teaching of the Titus 2 older woman and put it into action.
We see in Proverbs that she works with her hands, caring for her household from sunup to sundown. “She looketh well to the ways of her household” (v 27) and she has a beautiful relationship with her husband and children (because she can fulfill Deuteronomy 6, teaching her children God’s ways all day everyday).
This is repeated in Titus 2 where women are to be taught to love their husband and children and be keepers at home. Being at home is a very easy, natural, unforced, way to carry out what God has called women to do and created us for.
Sowing and Reaping
Where we invest the most time will always be evident.
But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
2 Corinthians 9:6
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Galatians 6:7-8
Do you want to reap bountifully the fruit of investing in your marriage, children, and home? Many things we do here on earth will pass away. Most of them are fine and good things to do in the here and now, but they won’t last forever.
Our marriage displaying the gospel, discipling our children in God’s truth, and making our home a place of ministry can have very much eternal fruit. Embrace the opportunity!
Satan seeks to destroy God’s Word every chance he can get. If he cannot get you to not be born again, his next best plan is to cause you to be a fruitless Christian. That is why the home is under serious attack these days. We need to recognize the enemy’s tactics and fight against them with wisdom and righteousness.
Start at square one: the home.
Use your home to fulfill the Great Commission: preach the gospel, disciple, fellowship, minister, worship, and grow God’s kingdom. It’s such a powerful tool! The home is not meant to lock us in away from everything in fear, or be a place of bondage that we are trying to be freed from. It’s a place to nurture the gift God has given us, living and spreading the good news of Jesus Christ.
What a gift it is to be a homemaker!
Grace and Peace,
Louise
Read my testimony to see how I grew up in a home completely opposed to God’s design and became a homemaker.
