“To make one’s voice sweet, one’s face bright, one’s will steady, one’s patience unperturbed, in the arena of the home, in the light of one’s own family, is no light task.” –Margaret Sangster

I came across this quote and it really made me think. Do I make my home a happy place to be? Do I have as much patience with my husband and daughter as I do with the brethren at church? Do I show as much kindness and sweetness to my family as I do to the little boys in my Sunday school class? Am I as forgiving and understanding to my husband as I am to the little old lady who said something rude to me Wednesday night?

Our family should be our number one priority. Just because we live with them day-in and day-out does not give us an excuse to treat them with less respect than we would someone else. As wives and mothers, it is our responsibility to make our home a special and loving place to be. We should not look at this task lightly. We need to build up our home and not tear it down.

Proverbs 14:1 tells us, “The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands.” This is a very serious passage! Since we as woman are the keepers of the home, it is in our power to build it up or completely destroy it. What are some ways in which we can build up our house instead of tearing it down?

• Treat your husband with the respect and submission he needs and God commands of us. Never ever speak badly of your husband to your friends!(Colossians 3:19 and Ephesians 5:25)
• Be your husband’s best friend. We need to love being with each other more than anyone else. (Song of Solomon 5:16)
• Love your children and love being around them. If we want to have a good relationship with our kids, then we need to learn to be fun to be around and have fun with them. (Titus 2:4)
• Discipline your children consistently. Unruly children do not make for a pleasant home!   (Proverbs 22:15)
• Train and teach your children in the Lord. We need to not leave this to anyone else. It is our responsibility! (Proverbs 22:6)
• Forgive your family members! We will all do things that irritate each other, but if we cannot forgive, we will make our lives and their lives miserable! Do not hold a grudge. (Matthew 6:12)
• Have patience with them. We all make mistakes, and if we want our family to have patience with us, then we need to be patient with them. (1Timothy 6:11)
• Do not yell! (Ephesians 4:31)
• Smile and be Happy! (Proverbs 12:20)
• Be consistent and never let anything into your home that Satan could use as a temptation (some kinds of music, movies, tv shows, magazines, books, etc) (Philippians 4:8-9)
• Be chaste and discreet and modest. This will make sure we do not bring harm to ourselves and our husbands. (Titus 2:4)
• Make your home a clean, good smelling and welcoming environment where your family wants to be. (Titus 2:4)

None of us will ever be the perfect wife and mother because we all make mistakes. But we want to make sure we do the best we possibly can to build up our homes and not tear them down. God put us in charge of keeping the home and we do not need to make light of that. This is our biggest responsibility as Christian women. Never let anything else become more important to you than loving your husbands, raising and teaching your children, and keeping a godly home! We need to treat our families with more respect and love than any other human beings on this earth!

By Alicia Bookout
Alicia Bookout and her husband Garrett and daughter Emma live in Clovis, NM. Her husband Garrett is the pulpit minister for the 16th and Pile church of Christ in Clovis. Alicia and Garrett graduated from the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver. Alicia is a stay-at-home-mom who enjoys reading, writing, speaking, decorating, cooking, music and travel.