I don’t know about you but I find my title to be very offensive. It is reflective however of how our society views things. Of course by definition all women, and especially moms, work. What is meant by the question is should they work outside the home but if you listen to the flow of our culture it would be called “play at home mom” not stay at home mom. If you make a choice to stay at home you are considered to be wasting your intelligence and your education. You may have had the experience of someone asking, “What do you do?” If you respond by saying you work at home they try to clarify by asking, “But where are you employed?” The world does not view motherhood or caring for your home as employment. Because there is no monetary value attached to it we see no value in it at all.

My answer to the question of whether a Christian mom can work outside the home may surprise you but first we must answer a bigger question. What should a Christian mother be doing? Why should she work at home? In other words, what is God’s design for a Christian mother? This is not intended to be an exhaustive bible study but rather an overview of God’s intent.

In Titus 2 Paul gives instructions about what should be taught to young men and women. He says to teach the young women, “to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.” He then says to teach the young men, “to be sensible; in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.”

There is a big contrast there. Everything he says to teach the young women focuses on the home and everything for the men focuses on their public behavior in the community. It literally says for the women to be husband lovers, children lovers and employed at home. The term “workers at home” is a task oriented home really meaning employment. There is value placed on the work she does there. It says what it says and I will not try to make it say less. But neither will I try to make it say more than it says. The bible DOES NOT SAY that a woman cannot have employment outside the home. In fact there are many examples of Godly women working outside the home including the most well known in Proverbs 31. What it does say is that it is not God’s design for the woman to provide for the family financially. That job is clearly given to men in 1 Timothy 5:8.

The advent of the dual income family in our country has not only put a strain on the family but I believe also on the economy. We have created a culture where it is extremely difficult for a man to adequately support his family on just his income. We have almost created a no win situation. It is not biblically forbidden for a woman to work outside the home but when it becomes a necessity it almost always prevents her from fulfilling her God given design. So a Christian woman either stays home and feels guilty for “not contributing” to the financial necessities or she works outside the home and feels guilty for not “being there” for her family.

In the last few years many so called “work at home” employment opportunities have appeared. They promise the best of both worlds. They say you can make lots of money and still have time for the kids. Very few actually deliver on that promise. First because most of them while called, “work at home” are not that at all. Many of them are MLMs and require constant work outside the home and even some travel. Others that are truly at home require so much time that they may as well be gone. But more importantly very few of them actually deliver on the financial claims.

The internet may have changed all of that. There are many new opportunities for moms to truly work from home and truly help the family financially. Any of these businesses that are legitimate do require some initial time commitment to build the business. If you find one that says otherwise it is probably not legit. It will take some work and maybe for some even some financial investment but I have found that some online businesses indeed to give a Christian woman the ability to fulfill her design and still enhance the family. The biggest gift that online businesses have brought to the family is the opportunity for husbands and wives to work together.

Whether you work at home or outside the home examine yourself to see if you are a husband lover, children lover and worker at home. If you are fulfilling that then do not let anyone make you feel guilty about your employment status. Check out some online business opportunities, but be careful because there are many scams out there. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. If they are legit they will tell you it will be hard work and no guarantees about the amount of income. I have placed a link below to one that I can recommend. It would be a good place to start because it offers great legitimate training to help you in whatever online business you might want to do.

As I have said,there are many good online, work from home businesses but only a few that I can personally recommend. Here is one that I believe would be a good place to start.

http://LIVINGTHATMATTERS.com

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