While filling out a form, a woman came across the question: “What is your career?” – “Just a homemaker.” Just before she was about to write that, she stopped. Suddenly, several tasks related to her career as a homemaker came to mind. She had to be a companion and help-mate and be able to cook to properly nourish her family. She had to be a janitor and seamstress. Often, she also took on the role of a doctor or nurse. When disputes in the family arose, she had the job of a lawyer. It was also her job to care for the souls or to be the teacher, depending on what the situation called for. Money also had to be properly budgeted.
Have you also thought: “Oh, I am just a homemaker” and then suddenly realized what that all entails? Maybe you’ve thought: “Who can do all that?” I would like to tell you today: only with Jesus can you complete all these tasks.
As a wife
God’s Word is very clear about the attitude of a wife toward her husband. She should submit to his leadership (Ephesians 5:24) and respect him (verse 33). This attitude should not cause us to be unhappy or lead to inner rebellion. In contrast, if we properly understand and accept it, it will produce joy and gratitude. Every time we read in the Bible that a woman should submit to her husband, we also read that the man is the head. In other words: As women are called to submit to their husbands, so then men are commanded to love their wives as Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5:25). A woman who knows she is loved in that way will see submission to her husband as something good and natural. In His wisdom, God ordained the relationship between husband and wife in this way for their happiness. Therefore, if we rebel against His plan, we will receive only worries and problems instead of blessings.
“But,” you may say now, “my husband is not a believer. Do I have to submit to him anyway?” We must, of course, be aware that we must obey Jesus first of all. If submission to your husband in a specific situation would bring dishonor to God, then it is your duty to obey God more than him. However, in all other matters, it is your task to submit to your husband in love (according to 1 Peter 3:1). Only in this way can you win him for Christ. The influence of the holy life of a believing wife is great. An unbelieving spouse needs this blessing, whether he has earned it or not. Not even we ourselves can say that we have earned our own salvation (Ephesians 2:8). If we live this out in front of our children, isn’t that the best way to raise them to respect and obey their father?
An elderly woman said: “I know what I did wrong in my life. I did not submit to my husband as I should have. Because he was always so unreasonable, I thought God would not require it of me to be submissive. Today, I would choose to put faith ahead of reason.”
As a mother
The greatest responsibility of a mother is to lead her children in the ways of the Lord. The promise in Proverbs 22:6 still applies today: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” That is a sobering, almost alarming fact. We can influence living souls for good or evil. Some make the mistake of thinking there is a middle road. Either we raise our children towards Christ or away from Him.
The place of a mother is in the family. Titus says in chapter 2 verse 5 that she should be “busy at home” (NIV). When a mother is there, a child has a feeling of security, which he desperately needs as a baby, child, and teenager. Over the years, our children have grown up, but I have realized that they need their mother in their later years as much as in their childhood, and perhaps even more. They don’t need her as much in a physical sense for their physical wellbeing but for mature, advice-filled conversations and as a confidant to whom they can come at any time. After my husband and I recently returned from a three-week trip, my 17-year old son put his hand on my shoulder and said: “You’re back again.” During our absence, he was well cared for, but he felt that everything was well when his parents were in charge again.
Have we thought of those children and teenagers who never hear a welcoming word when they come home from school and ask: “Mom, are you there?” This has often crossed my mind in the last 25 years when our children stormed through the door with this question. They usually didn’t want anything in particular – only the assurance that their mom was there. Of course, there are exceptions when mothers must be separated from their families for a part of the day, for example, if they’re sick. I am sure that God gives a special grace in such cases and situations. But that does not change God’s fundamental plans for the family.
As a homemaker
No one thinks of a mother without thinking of the home. These two things are nearly impossible to separate. In Proverbs 31:27, we read: “She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.” To lead a household for the Lord means to do all the work with the desire to please Him. Even the smallest and menial job can be done with inner satisfaction and gratification. “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17). This simple service for the benefit of the family is a valuable task for every woman and is recognized by the Lord.
How extensive the role of a woman is in the family! We could not even carry out this great task without the enabling power of the Lord. Do you know Him as your personal Savior and leader? If you do, then thank Him today for His help and also for His grace so that He may glorify Himself through your life.
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