Guiding The Home

"But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." (Titus 2:1-5)

The word “likewise” shows that the older Christian women are to have the same qualities that were listed for the older men, and there are some additional qualities listed for the women as well. The behavior of women must always reflect holiness. The way a woman speaks, the way she walks, the way she dresses, the way she acts - in all she is and does, she is to be holy.

The older Christian women are to teach the younger Christian women, by word and deed, how to fulfill their God ordained roles. It all starts with the older women in the church teaching the younger women to be devoted to their families. Paul said the young married women should be taught to “love their husbands” and to “love their children.” Not all wives show love to their husbands and children. Not the selfless love that God commands. This is evidenced by their lack of respect for their husbands and lack of discipline toward their children. These instructions should come from wise women who are following Christ, but many older women teach younger women just the opposite. They teach them how to be independent from their husbands and how to pawn their children off on others (Day Care, Public School, etc.).

Older women are to teach younger women to be guardians of the home. Christian wives and mothers are to be “keepers at home.” American society urges women to become career women. Enormous pressure is put on women to enter the workforce, and because many follow the trends of the world instead of the Word of God, many families are wrecked because working wives and mothers became discontented with and independent of their husbands, and many children have strayed because their mothers have been off to work when they were needed at home. In the light of eternity, the role of “keeper at home” is infinitely more worthwhile than anything a woman could put in its place. Susannah Wesley was a mother of 19 children. She homeschooled her children diligently and her Christian character and devotion to the Lord were reproduced in her children. The impact that she has made on the world will never be known in this life, for out of her home came Charles and John Wesley. Thank God for her obedience.

According to God’s Word a woman is to guide the home - it is her calling. If she ignores that calling for worldly pursuits, more money, or more security, she may realize one day that the world has taken her family. A Christian wife and mother should make her home a refuge from all of the meanness, cruelty, and wickedness that her family encounters from the world. She should make the home a loving sanctuary for her husband and her children. Nothing else she could ever try to do can even compare to this mission.

Older women are to teach the younger women how to be “obedient to their own husbands.” There is no need to try and take away from the meaning of this and apologize for it. God says that wives are to obey their husbands. This does not mean that a wife should obey her husband if he is compelling her to commit sin. But that aside, women are commanded to obey their husbands. Many professing Christian women ignore this command from God, and it carries severe consequences. The Bible says that when these truths are set aside or ignored, the Word of God is blasphemed. When God’s Word deals with an issue, no matter what it is, it speaks with the highest authority, with unerring wisdom, and with unfailing love, therefore it must be accepted and obeyed.

By the way, men, we need to fulfill our role as protector and provider and help our wives to fulfill their role as home-keeper and nurturer. It is not her job to provide for you while you lay around the house doing nothing or while you pursue selfish interests. She is commanded to obey you. You are commanded to love her and seek her highest well-being instead of your own.