Most of us women have always loved the idea of having a home of our very own one day! When we were just little girls we swept dirt floors outside and washed dishes from pretend suppers that we had with our many house guests mostly made up of our baby dolls . We decorated our walls and planned where everything would go in our first little homes. I remember decorating construction paper signs that read, “Home Sweet Home” and hanging them in my little pretend house. Back then, nothing could be truer, it really was a “sweet home”.
That longing that we had then is probably still in us! We want to make our homes a place of rest and comfort! It’s where we feed our families and nurture our loved ones. It’s a place where we can relax and unwind from the “hustle and bustle” of the outside world and its troubles.
Or is it?
Have we kept our homes pure from the outside troubles? Have we made our homes a place of refuge and rest? Have we kept God first and at the center of our homes? Let’s see what the Word of God tells us about keeping our home.
In Titus 2:5, the Bible says of us women , “To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”(KJV) In order to have that God centered home that we ought to have, things must be in the order that God intended for them to be. We must keep our homes in the way God wants us to in order to achieve the proper home.
In Ephesians 5:24 we are told, “Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands, in everything.” (KJV) Then again in Colossians 3:18, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.” (KJV) In order to have a peaceful home, we must allow and encourage our husbands to be the leaders that God intends for them to be. We were created to be his helpmeet. There should be less arguing and more peace in a home where the roles God gave us are being properly followed.
And in Proverbs 31: 10-31, we learn so much from the “virtuous woman”! We can learn from all of these scriptures that God’s plan for our homes is to have a Godly husband as the head and leader of our family with a Godly wife as his helper! When we obey God’s plan for the family in our marriages, our homes will be patterned after His perfect plan and therefore should prosper.
We should also make sure that we are teaching our children about God in our homes and are showing them what really matters to us is following our Heavenly Father. In Deuteronomy 11:19, we read, “And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” (KJV) and again in Deuteronomy 4:9 “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;”(KJV) We need to realize that what we teach our children within our homes, will likely be taught by them one day to their children! We are creating a foundation within our homes for our children to follow and take with them one day.
Our homes can also be used to comfort and strengthen those outside of our immediate families. In I Peter 4:9, we read, “Use hospitality one to another without grudging.” We also read in Leviticus 19:34, “But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself…”(KJV) We should always open our homes to provide food, fellowship and shelter to those in need!
No matter, if our homes are big or small, fancy or simple, if we follow God’s perfect pattern for our homes by having the proper roles, teaching our children to keep God first and to always obey his commandments and open our homes to hospitality, we can count on having a home blessed by God!
May all of you have a HOME SWEET HOME!
Joshua 24:15, “…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
By: Kitty Hackney @ ahappyheart3.blogspot.com