The Value of Real Work

Her Office from http://www.allposters.com/

Homemaking is a multi-faceted job, much more so than any other job a woman could have. If you work in an office, you will probably not be required to clean the floor or the windows. Another crew, from another company, will be hired to do that. You will probably not go to the cafeteria or restaurant and cook your own food. You will not be required to sweep the walkway to the place of work. You won't be mowing the lawn. You will not be repairing anything inside the office or on the outside of the structure where you work. You won't be greeting everyone or doing all the correspondence if you are in a firm where the work is specifically assigned amongst other employees.

If anyone thinks that being home full time is taking the easy way out of trying to have a soft life, just invite the over and let them help you with your day, which will not end at 5 pm with other institutions.

The so-called "work ethic" existed long before it was labelled "the work ethic." From the beginning of time, work existed. God invented it, for he worked when he created the world and mankind. Man himself was created to work. Adam was given the first job in the Garden of Eden, to dress it and care for it. Eve was given the job of being a helper fit for him. Later, Adam was told to work "by the sweat of his brow," in order provide for his family. Obviously, work requires some exertion. No religious group invented the "work ethic, for it was taught in the New Testament in instructions to members of Christ's body, the church. Church members were warned particularly to be busy, to provide for their families, and not to "pilfer, purloinThe words about working with your hands and not being a burden on others were written long before any denomination existed. It should be called "The Bible Work Ethic."

Some women who just want to get out of working, will claim to believe in the scriptures that command women to be keepers at home. Yes, it is important to stay home, but you cannot just stay home and not work.  The house must be "kept," which means made clean, orderly and comfortable. This entails regular de-cluttering, sweeping, washing and arranging. There is enough to do at home to justify being there. If you do not think there is enough to do, it is time to invent things to do: new sewing projects, cooking meals, setting the table, laundry, ironing, yardwork, studying various aspects of homekeeping, and more.

The subject of begging has been introduced by various comments from time to time.This is not the subject of eliciting free-will offerings for the Lord's work, but whether or not able-bodied people who should work, are justified in begging. If the commands in the Bible to work were taken to heart, it would eliminate the need to beg. David said in the famous Psalm:

Psa 37:25 I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.

Another good thing about the work of home is that it can be done as quickly as desired. A woman can put in a load of laundry and then go to another room to work on something that she wants to accomplish, whether it be a sewing project or a letter. She can get all the main work done (dishes, laundry, straightening up the house, meal preparations) completed and make some time to do something that is creative or some extra project that she enjoys a lot. Time is within her own control. Sometimes in the workplace in industry, for example, or an office. or a shop, a woman must spend a lot of time waiting. This is not necessary at home. While waiting for something to bake, she can be setting the table. While waiting for the post to come, she can tidy up the front room. While waiting for lunch or dinner time, she can do any other item of housekeeping she likes. While waiting for visitors, she can clean up the dishes she used to prepare food in. Her time at home is usually packed and there is not a lot of waiting around for others to do their jobs. She is, for the most part, in charge of everything.

One Bible verse to consider is:

1Th 4:11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands...

The way to get the house clean and function is through the work of our own hands, and through designating tasks to others in the house. Children can help a lot. They can transfer folded laundry to the right places. They can gather dishes from the tables to the sink. They can pick up things on the floor. I have had posts here that explained the importance of having a bare carpet and floor. Many home accidents can be avoided if there is a bare-floor rule. Certainly, no other business could be successful if there were toys and clothing in passage ways and hall ways and heavy traffic areas.



Men also, can do a lot at home to help make life easier for the homemaker. Being good workers themselves, they will not, even when laid off their jobs, want to sit around and watch sports and drink beer, leaving cans all over the place for the homemaker to dispose of. They will not create work for others. They will realize that time spent in begging could just as well be spent in working. They can also make life more comfortable at home by providing things that make her work easier and more exciting. Conveniences such as washers, dryers, dishwashers, good stoves, and furnishings that give the family a lift, are all important aspects of helping women love being at home.

In hard times of previous generations, men who could not find work, found things to do at home. They did necessary repairs on the house, improved the grounds, tended the garden. built things, even whittled toys for children. They were not idle just because they did not have a paying job. The Bible talks about working with your own hands: If a man wants to be hired he can develop a reputation of being a hard worker, whether he is employed or not.

Keenly aware of this scripture, men and women knew that they would soon come to hunger in their homes if they did not work.

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.
Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.
But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing (Ist Thessalonias 3:10-13)
2Th 3:12 -
Commenting on one of these verses, one writer of the 1700's recorded this interesting fact about the way society deteriorated when people did not work:

With quietness they work - Μετα ἡσυχιας· With silence; leaving their tale-bearing and officious intermeddling. Less noise and more work!

That - they work, and eat their own bread - Their own bread, because earned by their own honest industry. What a degrading thing to live on the bounty or mercy of another, while a man is able to acquire his own livelihood!

He who can submit to this has lost the spirit of independence; and has in him a beggar’s heart, and is capable of nothing but base and beggarly actions. Witness the great mass of the people of England, who by their dependence on the poor rates are, from being laborious, independent, and respect able, become idle, profligate, and knavish; the propagators and perpetrators of crime; a discredit to the nation, and a curse to society. The apostle’s command is a cure for such; and the Church of God should discountenance such, and disown them.


Work is not always paid work. Work is still work when it is done honestly, with all your might, in the home. Families come to hunger when fridges are not cleaned and food is left to rot. Families will not prosper when the home is not looked after from within. Things that are not washed, cleaned, sorted, looked after, will deteriorate, costing more money to replace.

Of course, there are different kinds of "work" mentioned in the Bible, and there is a difference between working (labor) and good works which show love and hospitality to others, and the work of spreading the gospel. I believe that even when women are resting in their own homes, they are still in charge of a great work. Please do not assume that I think they should slave from morning til evening. At home, they can draw their own lines. They can determine their own limits. They are motivated by love for their families. They want their marriages and their children to have a good reputation. They want their husbands to be successful. No one has to stand over them and tell them what to do. They can tell by which need is the most urgent.

In closing, I will leave you with this:

Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

Ecc 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might;

If there is work, there will be no need for begging. The description of the Proverbs 31 woman includes the words: Pro 31:11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

"Spoil" was the substance the men got after conquering a city, when they went in and took the best of everything. Spoil is also defined as "pilfering," which is similar to stealing. If a woman at home will study the Proverbs 31 woman (Proverbs 31 verses 10 - 31) she will find the principles to live by in the work of the home, and there will be no need for begging. The value of real work is that it keeps people out of trouble, helps them mind their own business, and gets things done. Neglect of personal property and laziness in relation to poverty is described here:

Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. Proverbs 6:10-11.

There are several reasons for poverty. One antecdote within our own power at home is work. At least, we can keep poverty on the other side of our doors, if we carefully monitor waste and work. Work enables us to do things that others have to hire people to do. Work can save us money.

Family Picnic, by Consuelo Gamboa, from allposters.com


For homemakers, here is a video library that might have something that would help in your home keeping: .asp?category=Human%20Environment%20Design%20and%20Textiles

An old poem:

Now I get me up to work,
I pray the Lord I will not shirk,
If I should die before the night,
I pray the Lord, my work's alright.

Pro 19:15 Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.
Pro 14:23 In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.(poverty)