An oldie...

I wrote this post in June of 2005. All day I have been thinking about women in the home. I know I mentioned that I wanted to discuss this a little more, but then I thought of this old post and thought...well that about sums it up. So here ya go!

Defining Roles

Today was nice. I went out with some ladies from church to breakfast and we had a great time. SO guess what subject came up?? Come on guess? S-U-M-B-I-S-S-I-O-N. My favorite subject. :) I was able to share some really neat things I have learned from Debi Pearl's book Created To Be His Helpmeet. Hubby and I had a long talk when I got home about what society says is right versus the Bible. I think we have strayed so far from the Bible and its core truth that we dont know right or wrong anymore. We find ourselves looking around church and saying oh well everyone else is doing it so it must be ok. But what does the Bible say?Ok example we spend so much time on God's love and mercy that sometimes we forget there are other sides to God. The other day in my Sunday School class (3-5 grade) one of the girls found a verse that talks about fearing God. Well that cant be right this sweet girl declared. God does not want us to fear Him. I explained that it was a healthy fear. When we sin we should be fearful. We should drop right to our knees and ask forgiveness. Dare we tempt God and think oh He wont care this time or this time. God does care. I explained to the girl that as a parent when my child does something wrong I expect them to be afraid of consequences. You see God forgives but we still have to pay the consequences. When my children do wrong they are still my children and I still love them dearly BUT there are consequences. We MUST MUST MUST respect God. We must fear him, reverence Him, stand in awe of Him. Without this healthy dose of fear in our lives we will live however we want.
2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
This brings me to another point. I believe that God has His plan for your life mapped out in the Bible. If you dont follow the map you may not reap punishment BUT you will miss out on the full blessing for your life. For instance, I think that men's roles and women's roles in the family are established. We as society have tried to redefine these roles to the point where its the "norm" for women to leave thier children and go out and have a career instead of being "keepers at home "Titus 2:5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed and "guiding the house"
1 Timothy 5:14 I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. Are there instances where the wife has to go to work? Absolutly. I grew up in that house. My dad was severly disabled and my mom had to work full time. But women dont need to "define" themselves through career. They need to look and see how the Bible defines them. Daughter, Wife, Mother, Grandmother. Both of my little girls want to be mommy's when they grow up.. oh yeah and marry daddy's. :) I encourage them in this. When someone tries to tell them they can be a mommy but what else do they want to be I gently cut the person off. Why do they need to be more? The Bible says that children are a heritage from God, children are a blessing, Psalm 127:3-5 3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate he maketh the barren woman to have children Psalms 113:9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD. Nowhere does it say earn your law degree and turn your children over to someone else. Of course Im going to take it a step further. I think married women in general should be home. We as women are designed to be nurturers and caregivers. Ok young wife you say oh but my work is done by 10am what do I do the rest of the day? Learn a new homemaking skill, volunteer at a nursing home, help a young mother with many children, help at the church, extend hospitality to neighbors and people from church, have a Bible study... oh the choices are endless. Dont spend all day away from home of course but if you dont have children yet and your house is in order and your husband approves find something BIBLICAL to do. I feel so strongly about this that I cant seem to not write about it. I think we as women are being decieved and losing out on such a wonderful blessing by not following God's plan for our lives.