There was a beautiful young woman who was pregnant with her first baby. I asked her if she was going to be home full-time once her baby is born. She told me that she will work some since she would feel guilty not working and bringing in some money even though her husband is a professional who makes a lot of money. This has made me ponder the reason women feel such a desire to bring in an income. Mary Pride gave me the answer while I was reading her book The Way Home.
"To call only women who leave the home working wives amounts to saying that women who stay home don't work! This psychological word game is at the root of our modern career movement. Careerism is based on an inferiority complex, as follows. (1) Only men's work has worth. Women's traditional work is useless. Therefore, (2) I must get a job to prove I am somebody. If all the action is out in the men's economic opportunity sphere, well then, we'll all have to crowd into that end of the bus."
I remember telling a friend that I was going to go back to teaching. My children were older so I thought I should go back to work, even though our family could survive easily on Ken's income. My friend's response to me for going back to work, "Oh good! You are finally going to be doing something for yourself!"
The Bible never commands a woman to provide for her family. It never commands women to find a way to make money from home. However, the feminist movement has infiltrated the minds of women, even Christian women, and made them fell unworthy if they are not providing monetarily to their families! This is not true, women. Your worth comes from the Lord and who you are in Christ; it has nothing to do with what you do or how much money you earn. If you are a believer and desire to walk in obedience to what He commands, He has told you in His Word what He requires of you.
There is NO guessing game to figure out God's will for your life as I have written about many times. It is clearly written in His Word. Single women need to use their time to care for those things of the Lord and be holy in body and in spirit {1 Corinthians 7:34 and 1 Timothy 5:14}. Young wives need to be sober, love and obey their husband, love their children, be chaste, discreet and keepers at home {Titus 2:4, 5}. Older women are to teach young women {Titus 2:3}.
If you want to make money from home, you can as long as you aren't neglecting your God-ordained calling. Never feel that this is where you will find your worth because you won't. Be the wife and mother you are called to be so when your children are all grown up they will arise up and called you blessed; your husband also, and he will praise you {Proverbs 31:28}.
She looks well to the ways of her household,
and eats not the bread of idleness.
Proverbs 31:27
