Yes, God does want women to be a Homemaker
By definition, the homemaker is simply the person who manages the home. It’s not some dirty word the way society has made it out to be.
Way too often when someone asks me or my husband what I do for a living and I tell them I’m a stay-at-home mom and blogger, they usually have a confused look on their face. They then usually question my background and ask if I wanted more. Surely, being a Christian Homemaker wasn’t my dream, they assume. When I tell them I gave up my career in the C-Suite before I turned 28 because I knew God called me to put my family’s interests above my own interests.
I’ve been told countless times that I’m letting my education and accomplishments slip by. Awkward. I personally think that using my time to glorify God is a better use of my time than any career path in corporate America.
The truth of the matter is, growing up I never could figure out what I wanted to do. Changed my major 809 times and have four degrees and pursuing my fifth. I couldn’t imagine myself working outside the home. It just didn’t fit what I knew was true of God. Maybe I was always meant to work in Christian homemaking blogs 😂
I know God instructs women to be homemakers. The Bible teaches young women to be mentored by an older and married woman to offer her a Christian perspective on what it means to be a virtuous woman.
Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men…”
I love this verse. Work for the Lord in whatever you do. We should be glorifying God in everything and that means in the mundane. It means glorifying God in meal planning, household chores, and more. In all things.
This verse means in everything we do, act as if we are serving God. In reality, we are. Everything we do is either building the kingdom or bringing someone further from it.
The verse continues to say that our ultimate reward is in Heaven. We’re only serving those around us for a short while and the real reward for our labor is with God. As Christian homemakers, our purpose isn’t earthly goals but divine in nature. We are seeking to build a kingdom and every person is called to serve God.
1 Peter 4:9 “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.”
This verse hit me hard. Listen, I thrive on hosting people. I love it. Ask me to have guests and the answer is always yes and the next thing I know I’m at Kroger in the fancy cheese section to whip up a charcuterie board. I love it. I’m the lady that never sits down when someone is here.
But God says to be hospitable without grumbling. He also says to one another, not your guests. That means being hospitable to your spouse and your children.
Now, that is something I am working on. I don’t always love catering to the needs of my family all the time. I get overwhelmed. If I can speak boldly here, I’m not perfect. I’m not always a good homemaker. Sometimes I’m the messy homemaker. My family doesn’t always get my very best when I am serving them.
But God says to do it without grumbling. No murmuring.
If God calls me to serve them, then I should serve them. No complaints are necessary. Being a homemaker means serving and loving others.
Want to learn more about what biblical femininity is? Join the Biblical Femininity and God’s Plan for Women mini-course
What does the bible say about staying busy?
Titus 2:5 “to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”
I love this verse from the King James version so much. The beginning of Titus 2 is about the older generation helping the younger. It begins with how older men should mentor younger men to be self-controlled and worthy of respect.
Likewise, women should be self-controlled, pure, busy at home, kind, and submissive to their GODLY husbands. This is a pretty common misconception. Everyone thinks women are to be submissive to their husbands, regardless of what type of man he is but that simply isn’t true. Check out Ephesians 3:21-33 for more about Christian households.
What I love is that the Bible tells us to be busy at home. Some translations use homemakers or keepers at home. How are you keeping your home?
“It’s sad if people think that’s (homemaking) a dull existence, [but] you can’t just buy an apartment and furnish it and walk away. It’s the flowers you choose, the music you play, the smile you have waiting. I want it to be gay and cheerful, a haven in this troubled world. I don’t want my husband and children to come home and find a rattled woman. Our era is already rattled enough, isn’t it?”
― Audrey Hepburn
Related Posts
- 5 Easy Steps to Help You Disciple Your Kids
- 9 Attributes of the Faithful Godly Woman
- How to Pray Together as a Family: A Must for Every Home
- What is Apologetics? What You Need to Know as a Mom
- Lessons for Mothers from the Bible
1 Timothy 5:14 “So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander.”
While this counsel is for widows, it can apply to us all. Avoid gossip and manage your home. It’s about being self-controlled. When we aren’t managing our home, it’s giving the adversary an opportunity to sneak in and disrupt our home. We all know that isn’t ideal.
We’ve heard Proverbs 16 which says, “idle hands are the devil’s workshop” YIKES.
The more we give in to laziness and ignore our call to care for our homes, we open the door to Satan. I personally would like that door closed.
Colossians 3:16 “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”
We have a duty to teach each other the ways of God as a wife and mother. The Great Commission says we are to go out and preach the gospel. The scriptures give an abundance of instruction about how to raise our children in the Gospel.
Now, the Bible doesn’t say men are the breadwinners but it does say in 1 Timothy 5:8 “But if any man does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” It doesn’t say he must have a larger paycheck but he should provide for his own.
While I do work and take clients, my husband’s paycheck ensures the bills are paid so I can focus my time on raising the boys and teaching others about God. I also don’t have the pressure of taking on an abundance of client work and overwhelming myself. I can be selective with the work I do.
He is fulfilling his biblical role in being the provider and I am taking the responsibility of teaching others about Christ without worrying about our bills. Because he is fulfilling the role God commanded of him, I am able to stay home and fulfill my role as a homemaker, stress-free.
Everything works when you’re following the instructions from God. I promise.
Proverbs 14:1 “The wise woman builds her house,
but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.”
Wowza! That hit me so hard! So often people talk about how the husband has so much responsibility for the family and it is by his hand that we function well or don’t. As the spiritual leader of our home, it totally makes sense so much responsibility seemingly falls on him.
But this scripture says women are the ones responsible for building the home.
My husband may ensure the bills are covered and we’re headed down the straight and narrow but it is my responsibility to build up our home.
I am responsible for building up my husband and children. I ensure there is peace. As the one in charge of the home, I keep the temptations out. I am the one who ensures there is grace.
While I’m not going out and literally tearing apart my house by taking the siding off, I can destroy it with laziness, idolatry, gossip, etc.
I am responsible for also literally building our house. I make the dinners. I handle the decor. I make our house a pleasant place to come home to every single day. While this scripture is not directly referencing our physical homes but those that reside in our homes, we, as women, have a responsibility to cover all aspects of the home.
What does homemaking mean? Being a homemaker is about making a home. It’s a not house maker, that would be the construction crew that physically builds my house.
No, I am in charge of making these four walls a home
I am by no means perfect
Of course, I am not perfect. Only Christ is. But I can try. I can try every single day to find the joy in cleaning my house (after all, my husband works hard to provide so the least I can do is make sure the floor is clean). I can be thankful every single day that God gave me a husband willing to sacrifice so I can be the wife God called me to be so I can focus on the children He blessed us with.
Learning to love the role God calls you to serve in can make all the difference. I am a mother. I am a homemaker. And that is what God blessed me to do.
I want my children to know they are home in this house, surrounded by love and support from their father and myself so they can build each other up with the truths of God’s word.
As Christian women, we are to mentor younger women in the ways of her household so her home becomes a peaceful haven here on Earth. In such tumultuous times, leaning into these bible verses and really diving into to study them, can make all the difference for your family.
There is peace and hope found in homemaking.
If the idea of serving your family at home doesn’t sit well in your soul, ask the Spirit to change your heart as you study the scriptures.
If you’re ready to learn more about your role as a woman, come join me in the Biblical Femininity Foundations Course. Learn more about what God designed you for and how you can best glorify God in that calling.
I love all those bible verses! Great post!
thank you so much Mariah! Which is your favorite?
Love this post! I had a really hard time with this concept at first. Even within the Christian community, I was afraid of other women judging me for quitting my job to be at home! But it’s been so good for our relationship and even for my health. Letting go of the stress of my job I think was a big factor in allowing my body to heal after miscarriage, getting pregnant again, and having an incredibly smooth, full term pregnancy.
Oh my gosh do I get it! There’s so much judgement about quitting your job to stay home but God fully supports you in supporting your family. I am so sorry you’ve miscarried! I also have and have talked about it pretty extensively, if you need to chat.
Love, Love, Love! These verses are great reminders that it is okay to be a homemaker and work alongside my husband in our home as I have been debating whether to take the plunge and I think I just might!
Oh my gosh that is amazing Michaela! I’d love to hear more about you wanting to stay home. What has been scary about taking that plunge?
great post yes women are called to be keepers at home! God bless
You are so right! God is seriously so good.
Hi Ashley,
Thank you for your thought provoking blog post. I am so grateful to hear about your wonderful husband and kids, and the role God has called you too in your home. These are wonderful gifts from him.
I must however respectfully disagree with your interpretation on the verses you have chosen;
1) 1 Timothy 5:8 – does not say “Any Man” but rather is best translated “Anyone.” Almost all English translations include “Anyone.” The context here is based on Paul’s command in v4 for all children of widows to provide for them. Therefore, the application is that we need to provide for our family, including our own household. This does not apply only to men, but to everyone. As such, this verse cannot be used to support breadwinners being male only.
2) Titus 2:3-5 – Paul’s key concern in this passage is that “no one will malign the word of God.” As such, he urges younger women to, among other things, be “busy at home” (in other words avoid idleness – as you have stated). My conviction is that being “busy” is the key phrase here to avoid the word of God being maligned, not the location in which this is done. “At Home” seems simply to refer to the place where these women normally found themselves in this context.
3) 1 Timothy 5:14 – Similarly to the Titus passage, the key issue here is younger widows who have too much time on their hands (no kids, no husbands). He is concerned that they fall into common sins of being “busybodies who talk nonsense, saying things they ought not to” (v13) and in doing so some “turn away to follow Satan.” (v15). As such, he commands them to “give the enemy no opportunity for slander” by making themselves busy – in their context by marrying, having kids, manage their homes. In summary – the counsel given is highly contextual to the individual circumstances of the widow – and in my view cannot be broadly applied as a general rule or principle for all Christians wives.
Thank for you for the chance to share my convictions, which I hope will spur us all on to wrestle with God’s word ourselves.
God bless,
Tim
Hi Tim!
Thank you so much for your sincere comments.
For 1 Timothy 5:8, I actually stated it doesn’t say to be a breadwinner but to provide so I think we agree there 🙂 I don’t necessarily believe it means to provide in a monetary sense either. I think it’s more about the nurture of the family unit in whatever capacity that means for your home. It could mean you’re the breadwinner but it could also mean that you’ve stepped up as the spiritual leader to provide that nourishment.
For Titus 2:5, I think there a lot of really amazing bits of that scripture. I actually teach on it for my Biblical Femininity course because I think this passage in particular highlights a lot of the bearing of spiritual fruit and godly characteristics we all are to have. For this particular post though I wanted to only highlight that part of the scripture because it’s important to the context but I agree there’s a lot to unpack from it.
For 1 Timothy 5:14, I agree the counsel was for widows but I think the general principle of caring for your home, not giving into idleness and gossip is great advice for all. Widows aren’t the only ones subject to those temptations. Plenty SAHM’s end up falling into this category because they haven’t figured out their purpose yet.
I’m really loving this discussion Tim. Thanks so much!
God Bless,
Ashley
Great post! I am slowly coming into the role of a godly wife and mother. It is proving to be a trying and revealing journey. Thank you!