February 27, 2009

Lie: A career outside the home is more valuable and fulfilling than being a wife and mother

TRUTH:

  • In the will of God, there is no higher, holier calling than to be a wife and mother.
"No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds." (1 Timothy 5:9-10)

  • God uniquely designed the woman to be a bearer and nurturer of life.
"Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living." (Genesis 3:20)

  • There is no greater measure of a woman's worth or success than the extent to which she serves as the heart of her home.

"An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit." (1 Cor. 7:34)

  • God's plan is that a woman's primary attention and efforts should be devoted to ministering to the needs of her husband and children.

"The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." (Genesis 2:18)

Since the feminist movement of the late 1960s, the western world has definitely succeeded in sending the message that a life at home, serving our family members, is unfulfilling, unexciting, not as important. A woman will miss out on everything else life has to offer, if she limits her time and energy to her family. True identity and potential is found in a career somewhere.

The world has sent this message...and it's spread into the church community. In fact, women of my generation, my mother's, and even some of my grandmother's have never known life without the pressures and expectations of this forward thinking and drive toward equality women of the world have adopted.

For certain, the lie that a career outside the home is more valuable and fulfilling than being a wife and mother is one that I have rejected. I know that God has called me to make my family my first priority. However, there have been many times while wiping another dirty bum, or preparing another meal, or cuddling someone after another bump or hurt when I've been brought to tears wondering if this is all there is. Is it what the world expects from me as a woman? Or is it Satan trying to distract me away from the things God values for me? Certainly Satan is using the world to lure me away from God's will. A combination of Satan's deception and my own tendancy toward selfish gain, and self fulfillment gets me into these wonderings. Without the truth and knowledge of what Scripture declares, I may very well get trapped into the world's thinking and stay there!

I realize this may be a controversial subject among women. I am not afraid of what they think. I am only concerned about what God desires for me.

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