As we continue
looking at this portion of our verse: that
younger women are to be taught to... be keepers
at home, we see that there must be something to
this 'keeping a home' for it to warrant teaching
or knowledge of skills to do the keeping. This
home-keeping, something that needs to be
studied, or which requires skill, must also be
pretty important or noteworthy for it to be
contained in the list of imperatives in the Word
concerning women. I will add that this
'home-keeping' be done well because it does not
stand alone, it is in the verse which concludes:
that the Word of God be not blasphemed.
Everything we
do must be measured against the standard of
God's Word. Nothing is worth anything if it
does not measure up to the Word of God. That's
convicting. That's tough teaching---but that's
the Word---God's Word to us.
So, the home is
a shelter, a place of worship and prayer, a
place of refuge, a place of forgiveness and
forgetfulness, a place of refreshment, a place
where skills are taught and where they're
learned, and a place of hospitality. It is all
of these and more.
I will suggest
that the home is a place of harmony. A place
where lives are blended in order that a whole
may be formed. Two come together as one---a
whole is formed. A child is added to the whole
and it is made more complete---perhaps another
or many others are added in order that that
whole might be made more complete. Whatever the
case, the home is where harmony and oneness are
learned; it is where communication and
cooperation are learned; it is where acceptance
and rejection are learned and handled. The home
is where relationships are modeled and worked
out. The home must be a safe place for all
these things to be nurtured or understood. All
of these facets of human relationships will be
learned somewhere---a nurturing Christian home
will help all of these develop healthily.
The keeper at
home has a tremendous responsibility to make
sure that the home is all of these, that in
addition to these, it is also a place of work,
creativity, industry, health, basic education
and training for the desire for life-long
learning. When the home is seen in proper
perspective--- in line with the Word of God, it
is a dynamic place---a place that's so full of
life that it's naturally growing and
incorporating and encouraging each member,
friend, or guest, and the model is Christ-like.
That's our whole hope---our whole hearts'
desire: that we may be like Him. Our homes
should reflect that desire---they should radiate
that hope or that tone.
-pamela
