What a Godly Keeper at Home (Or Housewife) is Not

By Stacy McDonald
(An excerpt from Passionate Housewives Desperate For God)       

       A godly keeper at home is absolutely not a lesser human being, a mindless robot, or a placid doormat under submission to all men; rather, she is created in the very image of God and equal worth and value compared to man (Genesis 1:26-28). She is the crown of her husband (Proverbs12:4, a helper suitable for him (Genesis 2:18). Because she trusts God's wisdom in establishing perfect order for His creation, she willingly submits to her own husband as unto the Lord (Ephesians 5:22-24).

      In God's economy, the godly housewife is no man's slave or piece of personal property; for her worth is “far above rubies” Proverbs 31:10. Nonetheless, she eagerly admits to being Christ's slave, which paradoxically makes her free indeed (1 Corinthians 7:22). She laughs when she hears rumors that she is an oppressed victim of a male-dominated dictatorship, because she knows that god's will is perfect and his Word timeless. Her place in society isn't ruled by the culture, but by God's unchanging and eternal Word. By His grace, she has no desire to question His ways (Isaiah 55:8); on the contrary, she rests in them.

      Hardly childish or unintelligent, a godly keeper at home opens her mouth with wisdom (Proverbs 31:26) and her husband and children praise her (Proverbs 31:28. She has opinions and ideas, and uses them for god's glory—not her own. She takes joy in being a helpmate to her husband so that her “husband is known in the gates” Proverbs 31:23 and so that his heart “safely trusts in her” and he “has no lack of gain” Proverbs 31:11.

       Though the counterfeit lure and charm of the seductress seeks to deceive and entice the housewife's husband, the godly woman's garden is filled with fragrant spices and delicious fruits (Song of Solomon 4;16). As she ravishes her husband's heart he sings of how her love is better than wine and her scent finer than expensive perfume (Song of Solomon 4:9-10). She is a “fruitful vine” at her husband's table Psalm 128:3, and the fruit of her body is blessed (Deuteronomy 28:4).

        Far from being a household drudge chained to her stove, the godly keeper at home is “like a merchant ship; she brings her food from afar” Psalm 31:14. Proverbs 31 reveals to us how a godly housewife impacts her community in various ways—feeding the poor, making purchases for the proper running of her household, dealing in wisdom with employees, and selling her homemade hoods. She is known in the community and honors her husband by representing him well while in public, yet her hub of productivity and her primary focus is the place she most loves to be—her home.

         The godly keeper at home wisely governs the household that God places in her care so that prudence ad sound judgment rule her decisions rather than covetousness or folly. Though she may wear pearls and high heels, she realizes that “charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised” Proverbs 31:30.