A godly wife is organized and works hard to operate her home with the least possible chaos. She also creates an optimistic, joyful atmosphere for her family. God has always intended for the home to be the wife’s domain. Unfortunately, this is not a popular topic in our culture, but God did and still does intend for the wife to be a “worker at home” (Titus 2:5).

The Excellent Wife, p.71

Chapter Eight of Martha Peace’s The Excellent Wife is called “Home: The Wife’s Domain.” After the subject of submission this is probably on of the main jaw-clenching topics for Christian women. There seems to be a broad spectrum of thought on a Christian woman’s role requirements toward her home.

Some women are lazy, sleep in, let the children fend for themselves, the home is disorderly, maybe the wife watches too much TV or spends all day on the phone. She just can’t seem to get work in her home done. Then there are women who have a feministic attitude about their role in the home. She doesn’t want to miss out on what is going on “out there”and insists on having a certain lifestyle that requires more money, or maybe just doesn’t want to be burdened by caring for her children day in and day out. Still other women don’t work outside the home but are so busy with church or school activities that they are away from home all day every day making life at home feel chaotic. Every minute is booked, maybe because she won’t say “no” to opportunities leaving her with little time to nurture and develop her home or her relationship with her husband and children.

This concept of women being workers at home may not be popular but it is Biblical. Having a well run household is one of the main ministries that God has given to the wife. Last week my friend Lindsey and I were talking about this ministry of keeping our homes. We both have young sons, our husbands are busy at work each week and we are both very involved in the ministry life of our church. We were talking about how we just need to stay home one day each week to get cleaning and organizing done and get things in order. Even though cleaning the shower might not be our favorite thing to do we know that these things need to be done and done for the Lord.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Colossians 3:23-24

The context of these verses is how a bond servant should work for his master, and we can glean from it the hard-working, obedient heart that we as Christian wives must have. We are called to be obedient to God and to our husbands, not because we want to please men but because we fear God (v.22). Some wives only get the house clean and organized because company is coming over. We should take the care our home seriously as a responsibility before God all the time not before men just because friends will come over and see our house. Maybe you don’t really care about having a well-run home–Let your heart be motivated by the Lord and what He calls you to do, not what people think of you.
NKJ translates “all your heart” as “do it heartily”. When you work for God and not men it translates into a heartiness in our efforts. The dictionary’s definition paints a great picture–

heart·i·ly
a: with all sincerity
b: with zest or gusto

Most of us could use a renewed heartiness in keeping our home!

Verse 24 is very encouraging in reminding us of the reality that believers will be rewarded for their obedience. Even if we have no earthly compensation or no one takes notice of our efforts, God will bless us because of our obedience to Him. Sometimes this is the hardest part because we spend a whole day cleaning and our husband doesn’t praise us or even notice. But it is not about working to have our obedience noticed by people. We need to see this as a heart attitude of obedience before the Lord. If we just slack off and tell ourselves that no one will know or care if we don’t manage our home well then God will deal with our disobedience.

I hope this is a motivating encouragement today. Let’s be faithful working in our homes to be organized and efficient and to nurture an atmosphere of joy. Doing all of this not for praise from others but working heartily as unto the Lord for He is our Master and we want to be obedient to Him!