Tag Archives: Christianity

Watch Your Body

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Sometimes I get overwhelmed when I think of my job as a keeper at home. This job is big enough for two or three women in one household. Of course I’m not advocating polygamy (though a hired housekeeper would be nice), but when I think about why this job is necessary, I recollect myself, call on God and know that He gives me nothing more than I can handle. I remember that being a keeper at home, or a homemaker, is a wonderful role and is required of all women, not just married ones who don’t work outside the home. Titus 2:5 says this job is for women to serve as the home’s gatekeeper to let in the good and keep out the bad so the family can meet its spiritual goals. If women do just this job, we would see a world of difference:

• Guard your ears. Women must guard what the family hears: “Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly” (2 Tim. 2:16). This hearing includes any talk, whether one-on-one, from the television, radio, Internet and even from the pulpit. When family members hear not just godless talk, but talk that is vain (words that have no value to the hearer), they will desire to hear more ungodly and vain talk, which will impact what they say and what they want to see.
• Watch your mouths. Women must guard what the family says: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29). What you speak is often learned from what is heard and gets into your heart. Once the talk is in the heart, it eventually comes out. Mark 7:21-23 says, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
• Guard your eyes. Women must guard what the family sees. Matthew 6:22-23 tells us that when we look at healthy things, our entire bodies will be healthy. This makes me think about reading the Bible, Christian literature and other inspirational materials. These things positively impact my mind, empower my limbs and infuse my talk do duplicate good.

Without a doubt, what you hear, say and see impact the person you become and dictate your actions. Guarding these key areas will help shape your family and (one family at a time) the world to be who God has called us to be. I would love to hear from you some ways that you have guarded your family’s ears, mouths and eyes. I know your sharing that and even how you wish you had been more vigilant will be beneficial for all of us. I look forward to hearing from you.

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith

Women as Gatekeepers

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When I enter some people’s homes, I just know that I can kick my shoes off, sit in their living room or eat a meal. Immediately I feel comfortable there because the home just oozes hospitality. This is due in large part to the women of these homes, who make it their business to provide comfort for their families and all who enter their doors. They know the traditional meaning of being a keeper of the home, but being a keeper goes beyond the physical and into the spiritual realm.

Remember that the phrase keeper at home comes from the root word meaning “a guard, be “ware,” and a key definition is the (watch or) keeper of the house. We get insight into this phrase when we consider the Old Testament role of the temple gatekeepers (1 Chronicles 9:23-32). These gatekeepers, or porters, guarded the temple gates on all four corners and cared for the treasures and ministering vessels in the temple. So their job was to protect from any opposing forces God’s physical building and the spiritual instruments inside the building that were dedicated for spiritual service. They also watched out for who should enter the temple. This is a great picture of what the woman of the house is supposed to do for her home.

The woman’s job is to guard the physical home and its members that have been called as spiritual instruments for God (whether they know it or not). Her job is to make sure that nothing enters the house that will be in opposition to the spiritual goals that the family has set. She is also in charge of making sure that what enters the home will help to further the family’s spiritual goals. What enters or is kept out the house affects the physical and spiritual aspects of the home. So if R-rated movies, violent video games and bad attitudes are against the family’s spiritual goals, they shouldn’t be in the house. And if crude people want to curse in your home, they shouldn’t be allowed either. As women, you must be vigilant. Protect your house from predators within and without to work toward a safe and comfortable home physically and spiritually.

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith

Keep Your House

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Many times these days you may find me barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen as I serve my family and prepare to bring another of God’s chosen into the world. Years ago you wouldn’t find me this way: I cooked out of my own necessity and didn’t care much if I got married or had children or not. And if God decided that I should marry and get pregnant, my attitude was “You will never find me in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant.” I mimicked the cliché that epitomized the oppression of women because for me liberation was shunning most appearances of taking on traditional women’s roles. In recent years, after really studying “to be keepers at home,” one command for women in Titus 2, I understand that being a keeper at home is much broader than cooking and cleaning; it’s a job of providing comfort and safety for your family and all who enter your home.

The phrase keeper at home comes from the root word meaning “a guard, be “ware.” The definitions that stem from that are “caring for the house, working at home: a) the (watch or) keeper of the house; b) keeping at home and taking care of household affairs; and c) a domestic.” So the questions become “What is it that women are called to watch or keep in the house?” “What are the household affairs that she is supposed to take care of?” “What is she to keep at home?” “What does it mean to be a domestic?”And “Why the use of house and home? Is there a difference?”

I think my stating that the job of a keeper at home means that women are providers of comfort and safety in the home gives us clues, but what does that definition really mean? You know I’ll flush all this out next time, Lord willing, but for now I want to hear from you. What is your view of domestic life? And now that you have biblical definitions of being a keeper at home, what are your thoughts about them? I’m looking forward to a lively discussion. Won’t you join in?

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith

Get the Junk Out

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Time heals all wounds, the old saying goes. But this is not true. Instead what you do with the time given to you is what allows the healing to take place. Many people don’t want to take the time necessary to make things change. Maybe they don’t have the capacity, because the hurt is so fresh or no one ever taught them the necessary steps. Well, this post will give you some necessary steps so when you are in the midst of pain, you will already have the tools to be implemented. This will also help you to guide those coming behind you so they too will be equipped. We need to take the time outside of crisis moments to figure out how to cope in the crisis moments so we don’t set ourselves up for a complete fall.

Remember, the two areas that Christians are warned to combat are vanity of the mind and lasciviousness (See No Christian Pimps Allowed). Vanity of the mind deals with what’s going on inside of us and lasciviousness expresses what’s going on in the mind. For example, if you have deep hatred for someone (vanity of the mind) that has been brewing for years you may decide to just punch them one day or curse them out (lasciviousness). See, if you don’t deal with the internal junk, the junk will manifest externally. And only God, through Jesus Christ, can clean you up permanently, where you walk unbound on this earth and eventually experience eternal freedom from all consuming junk.

Steps to Being Level-Headed

1. Get to know Jesus Christ in salvation. Romans 10:9-10 tells us how to ensure we have a place in heaven.
2. Get to know God in sanctification. Once you have a place in heaven, you have to improve your walk on earth. Philippians 2:12 says “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” This tells us that now that we have a place in heaven, we better live to express that God now resides in us. We can do this with God’s power (Philippians 2:13). Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” You must then study the attributes of God so you 1) know what behavior to seek after and 2) understand that He is a god that you can trust to help you succeed.
3. Get rid of what will cause sin internally and externally. You may have to throw away some treasured items that will cause your mind and body to sin. You may have to stop hanging with some folks that you know are toxic. You may have to stop watching certain movies and hanging certain places to get your mind right so your body will follow.
4. Remember God’s promise. If you purse God’s presence by seeking to be level-headed, great things will happen: “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you” (Joshua 3:5).

Being level-headed may not be easy, but it is possible when we let God be the Helper that He tells us He is.

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith

No Christian Pimps Allowed

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If I weren’t a Christian I don’t think I would want to be one. I’ve seen too many bank-rolling bishops and prosperity preachers flanked with so many goons and girls that Rudy the Pimp of my childhood would be put to shame. Why would I want to settle for the imitation of street life when I could live the street life? This is what so many skeptics of Christianity ask Christians who profess Christ then curse Him, go to church and to the club, take communion and hit some Hennessy or smoke a demon and then a joint. God calls us to be level-headed to stamp out this duplicity. “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways,” the Apostle James tells us (1:8). When you are unstable as a Christian others become unsure about you and yours, and you never gain what you were intended: winning souls for Jesus Christ.

If you aren’t level-headed you not only never receive what you were intended to gain, but when you lose your wits you can also lose so much else, like your reputation; friends; family; and job. When you aren’t sober (making wise decisions) you cannot be discreet (discipline in your body) to complete the work that you should be committed to (Titus 2:4-5). The Apostle Paul calls these two vanity of the mind and lasciviousness (Ephesians 4:18-19).

Vanity of the mind is the inability to perceive and understand the truth which leads to making bad decisions like lasciviousness, which is having no moral restraints, being shameless and outrageous. So when you walk in the vanity of your mind it’s easy to think it’s okay to be a preacher-pimp; a false friend; a failure in your family but a success on your job; or stealing time at work to make that church event a success. Next time you plan to do away with sound judgment and do something without moral restraints, think about your unsaved loved ones and the bigger watching world that God has commissioned you to be stable for. It’s better to suffer the slight affliction of self-restraint than to enjoy sin, whose pleasures only last for a season (Hebrews 11:25). A lifetime of salvation surely beats a season of sin. The choice is up to you.

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith