The next part of Titus 2:5 continues on with “…keepers at home, good…” Now, these are two words that do not say much and yet mean more than we realize. I looked up the words and found that I had never known what it meant before. How can we be keepers at home? Does this mean we need to stay in our homes 24/7 to make sure everything is perfect? Well, lets continue on and find out!
To be a keeper at home does not necessarily mean that you are at home all the time. The keeper at home has 3 different areas that she needs to be concerned about.
1. She needs to be a guard. Now a guard does not just sit around and let whatever or whoever pass. The guard is charged with certain duties and is accountable for those coming in or out of wherever he/she is guarding. What exactly would the keeper at home be guarding? There are many things that we need to guard our home against. We need to guard our home against bad attitudes not only from our children but also from ourselves. We very easily end up with attitudes towards our husband, our children, other people around us and even circumstances that happen within our lives.
We also need to guard against allowing false teaching to enter into our lives or the lives of our children. We need to guard against not spending time with the Lord which would include prayer time, Bible reading, studying, meditating on Scripture. We need to guard against laziness, lack of love, being too busy, selfishness, and many other things that maybe I haven’t mentioned. Because we are the ones that do most of the training of the children, it is important that we guard ourselves against these things. It is also very important that we guard our children against these things. We are supposed to be teaching our children diligently telling them when we sit in our house, when we walk by the way, when we lie down, and when we rise up. (Deut. 6:7; 11:19; Ps. 78:4-6; Eph. 6:4; Col. 3:21) Every situation constitutes sharing the Word of God, Biblical principles, and the importance of following Christ!
2. She needs to be a stayer at home. This doesn’t mean that we stay at home 24/7 but we must be careful that the things outside the home don’t overtake us. Sometimes we can get so caught up in everything going on that we forget we have a family that needs taking care of. Shopping may be fun, Ladies, but if it interferes with your responsibilities in the home and it keeps you from being the help-meet to your husband then the shopping needs to be ditched! We are not here to indulge our flesh but we are called to be a help-meet to our husbands (first and foremost) and then a mother to our children before anything else!
There are some women that are taxi services for their children and therefore spend very little time at home. Ladies, this is not being a stayer at home. Our children do NOT need extracurricular activities to be well-rounded in their education. All you are doing is teaching them that entertainment is more important than following God’s Word. Beware that you don’t put extracurricular activity before commands of Scripture and therefore make it an idol! Although, we may not need to be in our homes 24/7 it is still important that we be in our homes and make it a HOME not just a HOUSE.
3. She needs to be domestically inclined (a good housekeeper). Now, this doesn’t mean that everything within her house is absolutely perfect! When we were in England, a woman that was extreme in cleaning her house was called ‘house proud’. I had to ask what it meant when I first heard that said. To be ‘house proud’ is to mean that that person’s house is absolutely beautiful. Nothing is out of place and everything looks spotless and perfect!
The only problem is that the family is ignored and the woman of the house has difficulty showing hospitality to anyone else ‘just in case they messed up the house’ or basically gets upset when the children touch anything in the house. The children are NOT allowed to be children. This is NOT what I am talking about! The house should be clean AND liveable! If you have children then I don’t expect that perfection rules the day (maybe the night but not the day). I do believe that children need to be taught to clean up after themselves but not to the extent that they are not even allowed to be members within the household. This doesn’t mean that the house will be clean at all times but the house should be taken care of as needed. We need to learn to be domestically inclined AND a good housekeeper!
We need to be good. This is dealing with good works that we do towards our families and others. Proverbs 31:11, 12 says, “The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.” It is important that we do good toward our husband and seek always his good, not ours! Is this easy to do? Absolutely not! We women are selfish creatures and tend to think that our ideas and ways should always be followed. When we are willing to be submissive to the Lord we will see a difference in our attitudes toward our husband.
‘Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen‘ Zechariah 11:2
“When in the forest there is heard the crash of a falling oak, it is a sign that the woodman is abroad, and every tree in the whole company may tremble lest tomorrow the sharp edge of the axe should find it out. We are all like trees marked for the axe, and the fall of one should remind us that for every one, whether great as the cedar, or humble as the fir, the appointed hour is stealing on apace. I trust we do not, by often hearing of death, become callous to it. May we never be like the birds in the steeple, which build their nests when the bells are tolling, and sleep quietly when the solemn funeral peals are startling the air.
“May we regard death as the most weighty of all events, and be sobered by its approach. It ill behoves us to sport while our eternal destiny hangs on a thread. The sword is out of its scabbard – let us not trifle; it is furbished, and the edge is sharp – let us not play with it. He who does not prepare for death is more than an ordinary fool, he is a madman. When the voice of God is heard among the trees of the garden, let fig tree and sycamore, and elm and cedar, alike hear the sound therof.
“Be ready, servant of Christ, for thy Master comes on a sudden, when an ungodly world least expects Him. See to it that thou be faithful in His work, for the grave shall soon be digged for thee. Be ready, parents, see that your children are brought up in the fear of God, for they must soon be orphans; be ready, men of business, take care that your affairs are correct, and that you serve God with all your hearts, for the days of your terrestial service will soon be ended, and you will be called to give account for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or whether they be evil. May we all prepare for the tribunal of the great King with a care which shall be rewarded with gracious commendation, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’.”
I haven’t completely finished the series from Titus 2 but I wanted to share something else from the perspective of an 18 year old. So many times, we are more concerned about what we can get out of life instead of submitting to the Lord’s will and following the path He has set before us. The Bible is our blueprint for life and Titus 2 shares what is necessary for us as Christian women to be successful in God’s eyes. I would ask that as you read the post that you would be open to the Lord’s leading in your own heart and understanding! The daughter of Pastor Voddie Baucham has her own blog (her name is Jasmine) and has shared from her heart “Ten Reasons Why I don’t Want to be VP when I ‘Grow Up.’” I was reading Berean Wife’s Blog on “Palin and Feminism” and happened to see the link for Jasmine’s blog. The post by Jasmine was thorough and well thought out! This gives a clear understanding as to why it’s so important for us as Christian women to put our husband’s and family first!
The next area we need to look at in older women teaching younger women deals with our attitudes and actions in general. Titus goes on to say in verse 5, “to be discreet, chaste…”
What is discreet? In looking at the meaning of the word, there are several different meanings so close together as to mean something similar and yet slightly different (as is with many words in the Bible). I think this is really going to hit home with a lot of us! The meaning: safe (sound) in mind, i.e. self-controlled (moderate as to opinion or passion):–discreet, sober, temperate.
This hits hard with the emotional state of women. How many times have we been self-controlled as to our opinions and/or passions? When someone has wronged our husbands or our children, how many times have we gotten angry because of that? Are we willing to look past the mother instinct of hurting someone back because they hurt the one/s we love? I have to be honest that there have been many times where I have gotten upset (and responded in an unChristlike manner) because someone has said or done something to my husband. Is this right? Absolutely NOT! As the saying goes, “Two wrongs never make a right!” If my position is right but my disposition is wrong then I am wrong! This has probably been directed specifically at women because we have a tendency to overreact.
These other two things also hit us as we have a hard time being temperate and sober over things. It’s much easier to go on binges whether they be food binges, shopping binges, or any other kind of binges that might be in our lives. It is important that we ask the Lord to help us in these areas so that we can be temperate, sober-minded and moderate in our passions and opinions.
Chaste is the next word and the meaning is: properly, clean, i.e. (figuratively) innocent, modest, perfect:–chaste, clean, pure. How many times have I heard from women (even pastor’s wives) that it is ok to read books that are not clean and pure because we have to “wind down sometime or other!” Ladies, it is NOT ok to read books unclean and impure books. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 4:23 to “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Nowhere are we commanded to let our minds go! This teaching comes from the evil one because we are supposed to keep ourselves pure and clean at ALL times! The new age movement (including yoga) teaches that you should let your mind go and envision a nice area like woods or a lake or something like that. When we let go of our minds then the evil one and his minions (it would be more like his minions for us) have a heyday with our minds. Before you know it, the things we thought we had control over spring back to life and we are having to deal with those sins once again!
When we are seeking to keep our minds pure, keeping our passions and opinions moderate (according to God’s word not our preferences) then we will see that our lives are chaste and discreet in the areas that we should be. This might mean finding godly books to read (yes, you can read your husband’s theological books and it would help you immensely, believe it or not), a godly woman that is willing to disciple you, someone you can be accountable to in areas of your life where you are in desperate need of help, prayer time, meditation of scripture, reading your Bible, and seeking godly counsel where and when you need it. Ladies, let’s be chaste and discreet in our everyday living!
How very sad but this is how our culture is going! Let’s take our children back and teach them that we love them by being there for them and not putting them in the beemer! May God forgive us for our selfishness towards the children HE has entrusted us with!
This video speaks for itself! I am in total agreement with his assessment on schooling and homeschooling! Jesus told the Pharisees to render to Caesar the things that were his but render to God the things that were HIS! Our children do NOT belong to Caesar!
I came across this article and really felt the Lord speak to my heart through it. It talks about digging roots and how we do it. We can simply have no roots which is not biblical and not helpful to us at all. We can put our roots in things that are worthless to us and cause us to stumble and fall. We can put our roots in good things that will cause us to stumble because we haven’t placed our roots in the best of things! Last but definitely not least, we can put our roots in the Lord Jesus Christ, Who alone is worthy of us placing our roots within Himself! I do feel this is another way of saying what I said in my post “Meditating On Scripture” and I would highly recommend reading it! It is in the ABWE “Message” and they have a lot of good things to read in their book. The actual article was written by Kimberly Rae! Thank you so much for what you have written, Kimberly, and may the Lord help you as you serve Him in another country!
Normally, I would not worry about whether or not I received an award from anyone but a very close friend of mine actually nominated me. Her blog is lightinearthenvessels. They have adopted 8 children from a variety of countries and really show forth what adoption (from a biblical standpoint) is all about. They have many ups and downs but the Lord is working in them and through them. They have a blog all about adopting older children. This blog is based on biblical teaching and discipling of children that have come from very hard backgrounds. They are working towards becoming a counselor for parents that adopt!
These are the official blog award rules:
1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate up to 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you’ve nominated.
So, here are my nominations, in no particular order:
1. Berean Wife – I have recently come on her blog and she has some very good things to say from a biblical standpoint, as well. The comments are also great to read because her response towards others also show forth the truth of God’s Word! She is not willing to back down on the truth but is very willing to apologize if there is something that is contrary to the Word of God!
2. The Desert Pastor – My husband is definitely one of the blogs I would nominate because of the high quality of writing. Right now he is going through a series on Worship. He’s done several parts on worship and is discussing the golden calf of music. This, I believe, would be very helpful for anyone desiring to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth in every area of their lives!
3. Defending Contending – Here is a blog that defends and contends for the faith. They seek to bring to light those that are not true servants of God. They also bring many other things to the forefront from news that affect Christians to sharing quotes by servants of God. They post many messages from different pastors/teachers that desire to speak forth the Word of God in truth!
I want to thank the Lord for any ability that He has given me because I am not a natural born leader! I am a natural born follower but the Lord has spoken to my heart in many different ways. I feel a necessity to share what I have learned through my pilgrimage in the Christian walk. Whether I am able to help 100 people, 1 person or no one, I still feel that everything I have gone through is worth it all. Only the Lord keeps the record as to who was encouraged, rebuked or challenged by this blog. I realize that it is only the Holy Spirit that can change anyone as I know I can’t even change myself without His constant help and guidance every second of the day. Thanks for taking the time to read!
Here is the second part of the devotional by Oswald Chambers in ‘My Utmost For His Highest’. This carries on with the idea that not only are we to be holy but we are not here just to be blessed. We are here to live out our lives in such a way that reflect that we are becoming like the Lord Jesus Christ more and more every day. Let us remember, today, that we are supposed to suffer with Christ — Philippians 3:10.
John 7:38 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
“Jesus did not say — ‘he that believeth in Me, shall realize the blessing of the fulness of God,’ but — ‘he that believeth in Me out of him shall escape everything he receives.’ Our Lord’s teaching is always anti-self-realization. His purpose is to make a man exactly like Himself, and the characteristic of the Son of God is self-expenditure. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain, but what He pours through us that counts. It is not that God makes us beautifully rounded grapes, but that He squeezes the sweetness out of us. Spiritually, we cannot measure our life by success, but only by what God pours through us, and we cannot measure that at all.
“When Mary of Bethany broke the box of precious ointment and poured it on Jesus’ head, it was an act for which no one else saw any occasion; the disciples said it was a waste. But Jesus commended Mary for her extravagant act of devotion, and said that wherever His gospel was preached ‘this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.’ Our Lord is carried beyond Himself with joy when He sees any of us doing what Mary did, not being set on this or that economy, but being abandoned to Him. God spilt (shed) the life of His Son that the world might be saved; are we prepared to spill (shed) out our lives for Him?
“‘He that believeth in Me out of him shall flow rivers of living water’ — hundreds of other lives will be continually refreshed. It is time now to break the life, to cease craving for satisfaction, and to spill the thing out. Our Lord is asking who of us will do it for Him?” By Oswald Chambers.
So I ask you now. Are you willing to pour out your life for the Lord? It’s easy to say yes, but to be committed even in the midst of hard times is very difficult and it means that you will have to pour out your life for the Lord. Are you willing to go even to the death for the One that died for your sins?
