This is the sixth sermon in a series covering marriage, family, and the church. This message was delivered on the morning of July 8, 2012 at Hillcrest Baptist Church. This message deals with a woman’s role in a marriage. The message specifically deals with a woman’s devotion to managing and caring for a household. You will find the text of the sermon, and the audio. Please note that the sermon text is NOT a full transcript. Typically, as I preach, I add to what is in my notes. So, for the full sermon, please listen to the audio version.
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SERMON TEXT:
Titus 2:3-5 / Proverbs 31:10-28
Home is Where the Heart Is:
Titus 2
v.3:
As part of the intertwining of family and the church, Paul instructs the Godly older women in the church to teach the younger women how to be good wives.
The older women are to lead by example and teach the younger women.
They are to exhibit behavior consistent with sound doctrine, not be gossips, which can be a real problem if you have too much time on your hands.
1 Timothy 5:13-14
However; its not likely that the devoted Christian wife and mother will ever find herself with too much time on her hands.
*NOT GIVEN TO MUCH WINE*
Nor can the Godly wife and mother fulfill her duties if she is a drunk.
She needs to set the example, so she can teach “good things” to the younger ladies.
v.4:
The very first thing that the younger ladies are to learn is to love their husbands and to love their children.
It may sound strange that this is something that must be learned, most people would believe that it just comes naturally.
A lot has been discussed about love in the prior messages, and it all applies here, as well.
As we have learned, love is much more than a feeling, it is something you do.
While everybody can feel love, not everyone knows how to properly express it, therefore it must be learned.
v.5:
To be discreet is to be very careful in your speech or actions.
To be chaste is to be sexually faithful and pure.
Homemakers (We will come back to this)
To be kind, or do good is to be compassionate and charitable.
Obedient to their own husbands, and all of this so that the word of God will not be blasphemed.
Remember, it was the abandonment of these roles by both Adam and Eve that caused the Word of God to be blasphemed in the first place.
Lets not give Satan any more ammo!
Why are women instructed to be homemakers, and what exactly does it mean?
The suitable keeping and managing of a home is very important.
The condition of the home (neatness, organization, etc.) helps to set the attitude and the mood of the home.
It needs to be noted though, that is not the most significant factor in setting the attitude of the home (the spiritual condition of the home is of greater significance), but it is certainly an important factor that must not be overlooked.
When a neat and orderly home is kept, it demonstrates care, respect and appreciation.
In a home where that is not the case, you can’t expect to instill that type of attitude in the children.
Also note that this is not saying that a woman’s place is in the home. What it is really saying is that a woman’s primary responsibility is the home.
This doesn’t necessarily prohibit a woman from working outside of the home, which we will soon see.
In a few minutes, we will discuss the dynamics of such a decision.
Proverbs 31:10-28
Gives the definitive example of a Godly wife.
Jesus focused His entire life on fulfilling God’s will. In a similar fashion, a wife is to focus her life on fulfilling Gods will, part of which is care for the home.
God has designed the family to be her sphere of responsibility, but That doesn’t mean she has to spend twenty-four hours a day there.
The woman in Proverbs 31 left her home when she needed to buy a field or when she needed supplies, but even those trips benefited her family.
She poured her life into her family—she woke up early and went to bed late for the sake of those in it.
The first specific characteristic of this woman’s homemaking abilities is in verse 13: “She looks for wool and flax, and works with her hands in delight.”
Clothing her family is a priority. Looking for, rather than simply using, wool and flax means that she was dedicated to finding the best quality that she could afford.
Verse 14 describes the extent of her endeavors to find the right food for her family: “She is like merchant ships; she brings her food from afar.”
Continual trips to the local market for run of the mill food was not her practice; she would travel distances to obtain the best food at the best price.
She didn’t just slap together whatever she had; she wanted to provide what she thought her family would enjoy.
That required good planning and good management.
A homemaker has to combine elements of an economist, administrator, and business manager to analyze available products, exercise wisdom and foresight to make intelligent purchases, and assign tasks to her household labor force (a.k.a. children).
At the same time she has to fulfill her responsibilities as a wife to her husband and provide tender, loving care to all her children.
While this wife tends to the duties of the house and care of her husband, she also has the responsibility of teaching her children.
Part of that is teaching them to do some of the household chores, and teaching them the value of hard work.
We see that this woman was also an entrepreneur. She made and sold goods.
“She considers a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a vineyard” (v. 16).
Her husband didn’t give her the money to buy the field, she bought it and planted the vineyard with her earnings.
Verse 24 describes the source of these earnings: “She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies belts to the tradesmen.”
In addition to her family and household responsibilities, she earned extra money for herself by making and selling a useful product.
Notice, however, that she did not mix her money with the household cash flow—she put it aside until the right opportunity came along.
When that opportunity presented itself, she bought a field and planted a vineyard with the money. Things that would further benefit the family.
It is certainly a noble and virtuous task that she undertook, but notice the price she paid for it.
This woman gave up a lot of sleep because she was not willing to let her household duties fall behind.
Often, when women decide to take on other employment, they allow their household duties to falter, yet our model wife saw to it that that did not happen.
As I said before, Scripture does not prohibit a woman from gaining outside employment, but it makes it clear that the home is the priority.
Any outside endeavors should benefit the home, not take away from it.
When outside endeavors begin to overshadow the home duties, its time to put an end to them and focus on the home.
Housekeeping, childcare, education, etc. should not lag behind other endeavors.
The home duties of a woman deserve her full and undivided attention.
The care of a family is a woman’s first and most precious ministry, and There’s no virtue in just staying home; what’s important is what you do when you’re there.
Better to stay in the home and raise your children to be godly rather than pass on that responsibility to someone else.
The woman who raises godly children is making the greatest impact a woman can make on the world. No Christian school can ever match that.
This preaching of God’s perfect plan may seem foreign to many women who have found themselves in less than ideal circumstances.
However, present circumstances should never stop any Christian from striving toward God’s ideal!
What does this mean?
God has designed women with a need for the protection that a godly husband and home provides.
Men, it’s up to us to take the lead in providing a haven for our wives, so that we are giving them the opportunity to provide a haven for us and for our children.
For the single mothers, reaching God’s ideal may be more difficult. It may mean putting in the extra hours required to ensure that the home receives priority treatment.
Finally, God has made clear through His Word that both parents have a great responsibility to teach His Word to their children on a daily basis.
Deut. 6:6–9
And the children are instructed to heed their parent’s teaching.
Prov. 6:20
At times, especially in our present culture, God’s word may seem sexist or chauvinistic, but if we view it that way, then it is our values that are askew.
God’s word is timeless and perfect, and we need to demonstrate it in our lives, our marriages, and teach it to our children.
God is our measure of what is right and wrong, society does not make those determinations.
We don’t need to fear God’s word. Instead, we need to boldly accept the challenge!
In Defense: The Blog 
Posted on July 10, 2012
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