“When I call to remembrance the
unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and
thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”-2 Timothy 1:5
Someone once told me, kids will follow what
you do, long before they will listen to what you say. This is absolutely
true. No doubt, every man has to choose
for themselves if they will serve God, but there is a great advantage in seeing
the faith lived before your eyes; and how much more so when you see it from
those who you love and respect most.
Your mother and father. Of all
the titles one can have, none more blessed than mother or father. Of all the institutions in the world, there
is none more precious than the home.
Without question the most underappreciated and overlooked job in
America right now, is the Christian housewife. Not really sure when it
happened, but it seems the process of progression took us to a place of gender
neutrality and gender equality, and in doing so, we never stopped to think
about what was being sacrificed to fuel our progression. Truly, America
is and should always be the land of the free, and everyone should have equal
opportunity. That being said, if it is a women’s ambition to be a wife, mother,
and housewife; you will scarcely find a nobler calling. Modern culture
exalts education, business, and enterprise; champions free thinking and me
first discovery. You can be what you want, do what you want, and marry
whomever you want. The subliminal message is that the Bible, the home,
and the title of “housewife” is simply a way to keep the women in her
place. It is published, that the modern women is not so one dimensional,
you can do what you want to do, go where you want to go, and be what you want
to be; being a mom can simply be one of the many hats you wear. However the
result is, we are all too encumbered to ask: while were all out finding our own
way in this world, who is guarding the home? Who is guiding the
home? Modern day parents are working 60
hour a week jobs, paying babysitters, virtually killing themselves so they can
send their kids to top universities.
Universities that will teach them this same “me” first thinking; never
realizing that the greatest university in the world is a solid Christian
home. The most valuable teaching facility in American is a Godly home,
guided by a Godly husband and wife. The
most important lessons will not be taught in a classroom, but in the living
room; or at the kitchen table. My mother was never college educated, she
never ran a company or wrote a best seller; but I learned more from her than I
ever did from any university. Businessmen and women make products for
profit, mothers mold lives. Teachers and educators instruct students,
mothers fashion the character of future generations. She stayed at home,
put up with our craziness, and taught us about Jesus; not just with her words
but with her life, and her mother did the same. Grandma is a child from
the Great Depression, and has known loss and struggle. That said, she continues to serve God with reverence and godly fear. She may
never be recognized at a business luncheon or receive an award for services to
her community, but she did more good by faithfully serving her God and dutifully
raising her children than many who commit their all to education or
industry. The world doesn’t champion it, and our culture doesn’t exalt
it, but the gospel is generational and mothers carry the torch (more so than
most) from one generation to the next. Think of those who influenced you
the most, those who taught you about Christ, those who you wish to
emulate. Odds are good a mother or
grandmother is in that rank. Admittedly,
not everyone is afforded this great blessing, but no one should be robbed of it
because of stereo-typical cultural or world views. When kids see their parents and grandparents
faith it builds their faith. When children are raised and guided by consistent,
compassionate, determined, God fearing women; accompanied by a husband who
loves Jesus and accepts his role as the chief servant in the hierarchy of the
household, it effectively prepares the soil so that one day the Word of God can
one day take root.
We live in a world that has so many opinions and “movements” it
sometimes is easy to lose sight of what matters. Please don’t misinterpret, it is not my
intention to tell anyone what they should do or how they should live, rather,
call attention to the value of one of the highest offices a person can hold on
this Earth: the Christian mother and housewife. The future is
not determined by those who we elect, educate or appoint; but by those who
raise them. Let the Church rally around
those who embrace this calling.
