The Word of God is the same yesterday, and today, and forever, and speaks the same truth for all families today. A young mother’s place is in the home, keeping it, guarding it, watching over those entrusted to her. To do otherwise will surely cause the Word of God to be blasphemed.
A good help meet makes valuable use of her time at home, creating a clean and pleasant home.
-Debi Pearl, Created to Be His Help Meet: Discover How God Can Make Your Marriage Glorious, pages 221 and 224
The Bible says for older women to teach younger 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 2:4-5
This is the Scripture which Debi Pearl, in the quote above, is referencing. Not following the Bible’s instructions for women, which includes being a keeper at home, can cause the Word of God to be blasphemed. That’s a big deal! So, this is more than a matter of preference — this is a matter of obedience. (I highly recommend her book, Created to Be His Help Meet.)
What does it mean to be a “keeper at home”?
It isn’t about having a perfect house (as if that were possible!) It has everything to do with intelligently managing our homes and taking care of the needs of our family by creating an environment where they are protected, nourished, nurtured, and loved.
Comparing different translations of the Bible shows different ways of wording the same idea:
“workers at home” (ASV)
“working in their own houses” (BBE)
“take good care of their homes” (CJB)
“good homemakers” (CSB)
“diligent in home work” ((DBY)
“working at home” (ESV)
“good housekeepers” (JUB)
“keepers at home” (KJV)
“take good care of their homes” (NIRV)
“busy at home” (NIV)
“work in their homes” (NLT)
“good managers of the household” (NRS)
“domestic” (RSV)
“industrious in their homes” (WNT)
The word in Greek transmits the concept of being a guardian of the home, which Bible Commentator Matthew Henry explains:
keepers at home–as “guardians of the house,” as the Greek expresses. The oldest manuscripts read, “Workers at home”: active in household duties ( Proverbs 7:11 , 1 Timothy 5:13 ).
In order to live out this biblical command, we women need to be at home.
The time commitment is enormous and realistically speaking, we can’t attend fully to the needs of our family if we are away for a large portion of the day at a job.
In addition to Scripture’s specific instructions for women, even the way our bodies were created points to God’s beautiful plan for us: wombs are for bearing children and breasts are for nurturing them. A woman who works many hours outside the home must of necessity use birth control, obstructing the blessing of children God wants the couple to enjoy and to raise for Him. She must put the children they do have in daycare, further distancing herself from God’s plan for her and the family.
Children aren’t meant to be raised primarily by strangers, friends, or even loving grandparents; they’re meant to be raised by their own parents, the ones God gave them to. Whoever they’re spending most of their time with — or just a lot of their time with — is the one who’s raising them, in a practical sense.
In addition to not being able to fully commit herself to the duty of bearing and raising her own children at home, a woman with an outside job no longer submits to her husband as the main authority in her life: she must submit to her boss’s schedule and goals as well, creating a conflict of priorities. This is against God’s order for the family. The wife is meant to obey her own husband, not someone else (see the verse quoted at the top).
The woman was created from the man and for the man (Genesis 2:18; 1 Cor. 11:7-9).
Her life’s mission is to help her husband fulfill his mission . . . she is not independent of him, but was created to be his helper.
The best way to do this is not by working outside the home to provide an additional income; it is by working in the home as a housewife to provide the care and nurture that her family needs and that God created her uniquely to give, as a female.
Why is the role of homemaker so special?
I love being at home! I am the manager and guardian of my own, special domain. I am the queen, and my husband, the king. Our cozy, simple little home is our “castle,” and it is here we train God’s soldiers (our children) so we can send them out one day to fight His battles. So, then, this place and the work I do in it are both sacred and powerful. My work as keeper of the home is not the “leftovers” after God gave man the big, important job; no, my job is just as important, but in a different way. As a married woman and a mother, this is not something I do merely because I prefer to be at home, as if it were just one choice out of many equally-good options; it’s something I do because I fear God and love His Word, and obedience is my only good option. This is my divinely-assigned role, my mission on earth. And this job is not just for homebodies like me; it’s for all married women under the rule of God’s word.
It’s not really a choice; it’s a duty.
Why would I abandon this privileged place and position in order to try and be like a man? A woman doesn’t make a better man; a woman makes a poor imitation of a man. But a woman doing what she was designed for — that woman can be truly great. Remember, Jesus said that “whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant” (Matthew 20:26). God’s idea of greatness is not the same as mankind’s.
Contrary to popular opinion, the homemaker is not oppressively limited: what appear to be our “limitations” are, in fact, lines of delineation that highight our uniqueness and potential as women. We could also view these “limitations” as the perfect items in a delectable recipe for womanly greatness. My husband’s recipe is different than mine; but, both recipes turn out wonderful cuisine, if followed exactly as written. Yes, some foods turn out nicely with experimentation, but others do best when you follow the recipe. And, so it is with the roles God created for us.
The role of homemaker is beautiful, royal, and full of secret potential.
On this site, The Heavenly Hearth, you can expect to read articles based on my own experiences as a full-time wife and homeschooling mother of a large family, living in a small home on a single income. I hope to inspire you with real-life stories, encourage you with God’s timeless wisdom, and provide you with useful information about homemaking. Practical topics such as non-toxic cleaning, organizing, decluttering, scheduling, chore charts, and meal recipes will sometimes be covered.
Look for these on the side bar of the Blog under “Categories” or find articles on homemaking here.
Hope to talk to you soon!
~Jessica
Homemaking Resources
Magazines:
- Keepers at Home (Print magazine with many practical articles specifically for the homemaker. Supports headcovering, as well.)
- No Greater Joy (Articles on homemaking, homeschooling, child training, and general Christian living. Free subscription to either the print or digital version of the magazine.)
Blogs:
- The Legacy of Home (Mrs. Sharon White writes about old-fashioned homemaking. Beautiful and inspiring.)
- The Transformed Wife (Lori Alexander. Many topics related to biblical womanhood, including homemaking, healthy living, homeschooling, submission, modesty, and the blessing of children.)
- The Duggar Family (Practical marriage and child-raising tips; recipes; etc.)
Books:
- Living on His Income: Remembrances and Advice for the Christian Housewife, by Mrs. Sharon White (Short booklet, easy to read, gives encouragement and advice for living on one income.)
- For the Love of Christian Homemaking: Pleasant Visits from my Parlour, by Mrs. Sharon White (A “collection of over 150 visits from Mrs. White’s parlour during her homemaking breaks. . . . designed to encourage, inspire and motivate you to keep the charm and romance alive in a humble home.”)
- Created to Be His Help Meet: Discover How God Can Make Your Marriage Glorious, by Debi Pearl (Homemaking and submission. Good-sized book filled with Scripture and experience-proven counsel for wives. I don’t agree with Debi’s take on family planning [she recommends NFP] nor with her belief that the hair is the covering [she’s not supportive of headcovering being for today]. It is nice, however, that although she doesn’t try and convince women to wear skirts and dresses only, she and her family do believe in it and practice it.)
- Living Virtuously: A Wife’s Complete Guide to Keeping Her Heart and Home, by Erin Harrison (Stock-full of great homekeeping tips. I loved this book and will be reading it again and again! Raw and insightful.)
- The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality, by Mary Pride (Homemaking, submission, surrendered womb, homeschooling. Eye-opening.)
- The Power of aTransformed Wife, by Lori Alexander (Same topics as her blog, but helpfully organized into one, easy-to access book you can keep with you forever.)
- The Duggars: 20 and Counting!, by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar (Practical homekeeping and child-raising tips; recipes.)
- A Love that Multiples, by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar (More tips and recipes from the Duggar family.)
Recipe Books:
- Trim Healthy Plan, by Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison (How to slim down using an approach of balancing meals with fat versus meals with carbs, and eating some meals and snacks that are both low fat/low carb, as well.)
- Trim Healthy Cookbook, by Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison (Companion to the Plan book, above.)
- Trim Healthy Table, by Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison (More Trim Healthy Mama Recipes.)
- Trim Healthy Future, by Rashida Simpson (Pearl’s and Serene’s niece shares more recipes.)
- Trim Healthy Starter, by Pearl Barret and Serene Allison (How to get started with the Trim Healthy Mama plan — simplified version. Comes with several starter recipes.)
- Busy Family Menu Planning: Eat better, spend less, save time, by Zsuzsanna Anderson (Ten weeks’ worth of recipes for breakfasts, dinners, and desserts.)
Free Printable Recipes featured on this Blog:
- These are available as free PDF downoads, so you can easily print them out for your recipe binder!