Wives--Keepers at Home?

Just because something is "in" right now, it doesn't make it the best, or even right. 

Obvious, no?

I mean, no Christian would argue that just because abortion is popular, it is morally right (I hope not)!

How about these? Just because a certain movie is a blockbuster, it doesn't mean we have to rush to see it. Just because bikinis are fashionable, it doesn't mean we have to wear them. Just because feminism is here for good, it doesn't mean we have to subscribe to it.

Wait, what? . . . I thought feminism was helpful to get women out of horrible situations and unfair pay-cuts. I thought feminism brought justice and freedom for women! And what about the abuses of men who dominate over women, who brush their own sins under the rug and hate correction?

There may be good things that have come from feminism, but what about the things we lose or the Bible passages we ignore? What about the beauty of a home that runs so well, with wives juggling children, cooking, and cleaning--keeping the home, as per Titus 2--while the husband brings home the paycheck? Not to minimize a father's role in raising children, or even to say that a woman can't earn any income. That would not go along with Proverbs 31 or other passages.

I have heard a lot of arguments from fear, from avoiding abuse.. . . and while we must be watchful for this, we must not ignore or explain away the Bible passages that were usually so clear to people in previous decades.

If we argued that way, we would ban homeschooling for fear of those who misuse it. We would argue against churches because of those who have made a mess of them. We would argue against cars because they have killed so many. We would throw away computers because they are tools of the devil. . . . You get the picture.

There are two sides to every story--many applications, many misuses, many good uses.

And I'm here to tell you about the good things about men leading the home.

1. God says it is what we should do. This really should settle the debate.
Yes, I know some Bible teachers disagree on this point--but did they arrive at their conclusion based solely on Scripture, or was it something outside that influenced them in that direction?

2. Women are often good at nurturing, sympathizing, "mothering," while men are often good at working physically and logically. It is not that these two sides can't overlap, but there seems to be a natural tendency in the two genders.

3. Women tend to feel protected and cherished when the man provides for her/the family.

I'm sure there are more I could list, but let me go to the Scriptures: 

"But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed." - Titus 2:1-5 (NKJV)

What does "homemakers" mean, and why is it not applied to men? It's not that men don't help make a home--husbands and fathers are very important. The KJV says of women here to be: "keepers at home," ESV says "working at home." And the Greek? Strong's concordance says: "ouros (a guard; be “ware”); a stayer at home, that is, domestically inclined (a “good housekeeper”): - keeper at home." 

Staying at home (a general principal, not literally chained there) doesn't have to be boring or lackluster. There are so many great things about it, such as using your creativity in decorating and cooking. It does include a lot of hard work, but a loved mother and wife will be repaid many times over for this! Ultimately, as a faithful Christian, she is helping to raise children in the admonition of the Lord, helping a Christian husband's godly vision and work, and being a light in an increasingly dark world. Chin up, ladies; let us look to the Lord for strength and joy!

Here's a good message on this subject, though I'm not sure yet if I agree with the last part entirely.

Another good one!

Quotes from "New Morning Mercies" by Paul David Tripp

I've been enjoying this daily devotional that I won. Here are some of my favorite quotes so far, which I hope will be a blessing to you. :) The whole book has been good.

"We were not made to live independent, self-directed lives. We were not meant to exist according to our own little self-oriented plans, living for our own moments of glory. No, we were created to live for [H]im." - From January 1.

"Your hope of enduring is not to be found in your character or strength, but in your Lord's." - From January 12.

"For the believer, harsh, critical, impatient, and irritated responses to others are always connected to forgetting or denying who we are and what we have been given in Jesus." - Jan. 19

"Whether you have realized it or not, [H]e is what your hoping heart has been searching for, because what you've really been searching for is life, real heart-changing, heart-satisfying life--life to the fullest, life abundant. People can love and respect you, but they can't give you life." - Jan. 23

"True lasting hoping is never found horizontally. It's only ever found vertically, at the feet of the Messiah, the One who is hope." - Jan. 23

"The [O]ne who is the final definition of love, wisdom, mercy, and power makes us [H]is slaves. He who alone is able to give us life enslaves our hearts to [H]im. His absolute rulership over every area of our lives is not a deadening law but a life-giving grace. He is freeing us from our slavery to what is not true and cannot deliver." - Jan. 27

"Will you deal with life based on what you assess you bring to the table or based on who you now are as a child of the King of kings and Lord of lords---the Savior who is always with you in power and grace? Will you live in timidity and fear or in the courage of hope? Will you avoid challenges of faith in fear or move toward the, resting not in your own ability but in the presence, power, and grace of the One who rules all and has become your Father?" - Jan. 31

"We can experience peace in the face of the unknown. We can feel an inner well-being while living in the middle of mystery. Why? Because our peace of heart does not rest on how much we know, how much we have figured out, or how accurately we have been able to predict the future. No, our rest is in the [P]erson who holds our individual futures in [H]is wise and gracious hands." - Feb. 6

"We argue to ourselves and to others that what looked like sin was not sin at all. It is all a function of the delusional self-righteousness of sin. It involves daily acts of self-atonement. It is us working to convince ourselves that we really don't need the amazing grace of a faithful, loving Savior. At street level, we all tend to back away from the radical message that we all say we believe. It is a shocking denial of sin and a minimizing of the grace that is a sinner's only hope." - Feb. 7

"Corporate worship really does confront us with the fact that we are worse off than we thought and that God's grace is more amazing than we ever could have imagined. We will continue to need that reminder until our sin is no more and we are with [H]im and like [H]im forever." - Feb. 8 

"Quit being paralyzed by your past. Grace offers you life in the present and a guarantee of a future." - Feb. 8

"You don't have to hide in guilt when weak faith gets you off the path, because your hope in life isn't your faithfulness, but [H]is. You can run in weakness and once again seek [H]is strength. And you can know that in zealous grace [H]e will not leave [H]is craftwork until faith fully rules your heart unchallenged." - Feb. 12

"Grace illumines our dank hallways and our dark corners. The Son of grace shines the light of [H]is grace into the darkest recesses of our hearts, not as an act of vengeance or punishment, but as a move of forgiving, transforming, and delivering grace. He dispels our self-inflicted darkness because [H]e knows that we cannot grieve what we do not see, we cannot confess what we have not grieved, and we cannot turn from what we haven't confessed.
   The light has come. Run to the light; it is not to be feared. Yes, it is the light of exposure, but what will be exposed has already been covered by the blood of the One who exposes it." - Feb. 14

"He has not unleashed [H]is power in your life only to deliver to you things that quickly pass away and that have no capacity at all to satisfy your heart.
   This means that often when you are tempted to think that God is loving you less because your life is hard, [H]e is actually loving you more. The hardships that you are facing are the tool of [H]is exposing, forgiving, liberating, and transforming grace. These hard moments aren't in your life because God is distant and uncaring, but rather because [H]e loves you so fully. These moments become moments of faith and not doubt when by grace you begin to value what God says is truly valuable. Do you value what God values?" - Feb. 19 

Spurgeon Quotes

I haven't posted in a while, and I wanted to share some quotes I've been blessed by lately.

 "We need workshop faith as well as prayer meeting faith."

"We need to believe more joyfully. Oh what a blessed thing it is when you reach the rest and joy of faith. If we would truly believe the promise of God and rest in the Lord's certain fulfillment of it, we might be as happy as the angels. I notice how very early in the morning how the birds begin to sing, and before the sun is up, or even the first gray tints of morning lights are visible, the little songsters are awake and singing. Too often we refuse to sing until the sun is more than up, and noon is near. Shame on us!"

"The gospel ought to make us separate from the world. The gospel ought to make us lead a heavenly life here below. So it will, if we drink deep draughts of it. But if we take only a sip of it now and again, we give it no chance of working out its design in us. Do not paddle about the margin of the water of life, but first wade in up to your knees and then hasten to plunge into the waters to swim in it. Beware of contentment with shallow grace. Prove what the grace of God can do for you by giving yourself up to its power. Full assurance gives a man a grateful zeal for the God he loves."

"Men will do little for what they doubt and much for what they believe."

"Full assurance, as we have said before, is not of the essence of salvation."

- C.H. Spurgeon, in his message entitled "Assurance of Our Salvation."

~~

"If you do not endeavor to be like Christ, you are not His sheep, for it is true of His sheep, 'I know them, and they follow Me.'" 

"Who can loosen the grip of that hand which was pierced with the nail for me?"

- C. H. Spurgeon, in his message entitled "Eternal Security."