In recent decades, many women in the Lord's church began to leave their homes in the pursuit of careers. They left the teachings of the Bible and went with the teachings of the prevailing culture. That culture believes that women need to be working outside the home.
(However, when we refer to the Bible, we will see a different picture. That's what St. Paul says in)
First 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.
(the same command is repeated in Titus 2: 4-5)
"...that they may teach the younger women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home."
This is written to Christians, those who want to to obey and follow the Word of God. The rest of the world may argue with it, around it, diffuse it, and water it down, but it was not written to those who were not followers of the Lord. It was a special instruction to women in the Lord's church, on how to conduct themselves, so that the adversary would not find fault.
The first thing that ( liberals, feminists, secular humanists) people want to do, when they find out that you are a full time homemaker, is to shake your confidence, by questioning you. "What do you do all day?" or "How can you live on just one income?,"
I believe it is possible to stay home, even in hard times, and what is more, I believe that it is essential to prove that the Word of God is true, by doing so. It is incredibly sad to see that ( even) church members (often fall prey to the ) think the way the prevailing culture: that a woman's place is not necessarily the home, and that she has "choices." The prevailing culture worships the god of choice. Women cannot make choices without making an impact on others. They may choose to work outside the home, but it has an effect on their families. Even without children, women will not be able to guide their homes as efficiently if they are not at home. Work outside the home takes a tremendous toll on a woman. She will be using up her best hours of the day on other people.
It gives critics a chance to speak derisively if they see a professed Christian not obeying the words which you profess to live by.
Some people say that the reason so many women are working outside their own homes, is due to the Industrial Revolution. Many articles take great pains to show how factories and wars and economic conditions drove women to work outside the home. However, not everyone participated in the Industrial Revolution, which was simply a change from working on the land, to working in factories, a change that took place in the years between 1750 and 1850.
In spite of all this change, in the 1920's, most of America was still agricultural, with new machinery making family farms more productive. Some sources calculate that by 1920, America was still 80 percent agricultural, and this was after the industrial revolution. Women on farms had no factories to work in, but the industrial revolution benefited them greatly in their homes.
My lineage back to the dawn of industry, reveals women working on their own own farms, as homemakers and sometimes helping with harvest. Remember that planting and harvest do not go on every day of the year. These are short periods of time in which the women and children put aside their duties in the house and helped with the harvest. Many of them had large families, and large gardens. If approximately 80 percent of women were rural, during the time of the Industrial Revolution, then it does not make sense to say that the industrial revolution caused most women to leave home. The factories were not in the farm areas, as much as the city areas. Some have said that women did not work outside there homes because there were no places to find employment, but it must be understood that the reason for staying home was far greater.
Before the Industrial Revolution, there were mills that hired women and children. Before that, any women willing to work in the marketplace or any where that they could sell their products, were welcomed. Public houses or hotels hired women to cook and serve meals. Throughout any historical era, women have found places to work. It was considered a last resort, however, and only those who were desperate and had no provider in their family, went to work.
However, when you become a follower of the Lord, you learn a better way. You have to use the scriptures as your reasons for staying home. No matter what kind of revolution is going on in anyone's lifetime, if they are determined to follow God's commands, they will do so.
You may say, "In the 1700's, many women worked in mills," which was, by the way, before the industrial revolution, but that is not a Christian's example, or a basis for authority. These women often let their children go unmonitored, and they began to loiter and steal. The Bible says that women should guide and guard the home. That is our only authority. This of course, was written to CHRISTIAN women. It seeks to give a place of importance to women in the church of Christ. The world will mock it, but it is not written to them. It is only written to those who have put on Christ. In the world, women will work outside the home for whatever their reasons, but the Bible tells the women in the Lord's church to shine in a different way.
What other people are doing, is not our guide. The Bible is our guide. Of course, there are women who will find any thing they can to make the scriptures mean what they want them to mean, to fit the current culture. Women of all eras have had the same problem: they can be gullible and will go the way that the world tells them to. Eve was the first feminist, who listened to a voice other than her own authority. In doing so, she lost her beautiful home. The same thing happens today: women listen to what the government says, what the economists say, what the relatives say, what their friends say. They listen to everything but the word of God. Even that can be corrupted by other voices.
Men and women are not made the same. Women need a different kind of work than men. Many women need more rest. They will have more sick days than men. Home making is the perfect job.
God told his people 2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
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