Household Faith

In this post I want to explore "household faith".  It is something that I feel I would like to understand more fully. If anyone reading this post has some understanding or further insights of this topic I invite you to leave your thoughts in the comment section.
Recently I wrote a post about my Dad's final message to our family where he quoted Joshua 24:15 where it says .. choose you this day whom ye will serve; ...and.... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.  Link to that post here  Dad's Final Message to the Family   I believe coming to faith is an individual personal experience but I am also wondering if it is possible for a father or the parents of the household to claim the family for the Lord and that somehow it would put a hedge of protection around the family that Satan then would not be able to easily penetrate? Another way of saying it, would be to have a "roof" of protection over the entire family. I think it is very possible that this is true but perhaps many times not something that we see happening in our families today. God has placed responsibility on the shoulders of the parents and even more solidly on the shoulder of the father in the home as to what happens in a household. God has given each of us responsibility and requires us to do our part in the family unit.
As I look in my Bible and ponder what it says, I think there must be something there - the idea of "household" faith. Please allow me to quote some passages :

(1)  The first one is in Genesis 48: 5-6 where Jacob claims the two sons of Joseph namely Ephraim and Manasseh as his own sons to be in the clan of 12. -Genesis 48: 5-6 says :
 And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
  And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.

(2)  In John 4 Jesus heals a nobleman's son and after the healing it says in verse 53:  So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.

(3)  Acts 10 describes a man by the name of Cornelius, a centurian of the Italian band and it says in verse 2 that he was  ^"A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway."

(4)  Acts 16 tells of a woman named Lydia whose heart the Lord touched and in verse 15 it says : And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

(5)  In the latter part of Acts 16, Paul and Silas land up in prison. There in prison they pray and sing praises to God and the other prisoners hear them. Then when the prison doors are opened up by an earthquake, the jailor is frightened and about to kill himself, but Paul and Silas lead him to the Lord to salvation and in verses 33 and 34 it says:
 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
 And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

(6)  And one final example would be in Acts 18:8 where a man named Crispus is saved: And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.

What a wonderful blessing indeed to have an entire household saved and living for the LORD!
Again I would invite comments if anyone out there has some insights into the topic of "household faith".

Bible Teaching for Women Titus 2:3-5 - younger women and older women

Titus 2:3-5

 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;

That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

The portion of Scripture that we want to study today speaks to how a woman should conduct herself, and some character traits that God expects of women. The passage first speaks to older women and then follows with clear teaching for young women. As you read this portion from the book of Titus, you may feel like it is old fashioned, maybe it was good for our mothers and you may question if it applies to your life today. May I remind you that God does not change, He is the same yesterday and today and forever, His values do not change with the changing culture and His truth and Word do not change. Therefore we know that this applies to each of us today. So with that in mind, let's take these verses one at a time and see what God is calling us to do.

Verse 3- The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;

This verse is speaking to the older women among us.

God is calling older women to live holy lives. This means to be completely dedicated to the Lord in mind, body and soul. Some translations use the word "sacred", so it is my understanding that the Lord would have the older women to demonstrate what it looks like to be completely surrendered to the Lord, in words and in actions. 

The verse goes on with the instructions for older women to not falsely accuse others, to not indulge in wine. God does not want anyone to be enslaved to alcohol or other addictive substances and He is calling on older women to set the example here. Older women are teach others, able to give counsel and answer questions. As we grow older, we have already experienced many life situations, many disappointments have come our way, and we have grown closer to our Lord through these hard times. Therefore we can encourage others who are going through tough times now. God our heavenly Father is faithful, He will never forsake His own, He loves us dearly.

Verse 4- That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
Now in verse 4, the older women are instructed to teach the young women. It begin with the teaching to be sober. An explanation for this word sober is to be sober minded, this would include abstaining from alcohol and other mind altering drug addictions and substances. After all how can one manage a household if one is not clear minded. Young women are to be disciplined in mind and body. One example of this is in how we dress. You are not honoring the Lord Jesus when you expose your breasts with the low cut clothing that is so modern today, or when you wear figure revealing jeans etc.  God is honored when we dress modestly and discreetly and keep ourselves for our husband. It is not right to dress provocatively to be sexy, or to be flirtatious. Your body belongs to the Lord and to your own husband and is not for every man on the planet to gaze upon.

Next we read that the young woman is to love her husband. A good practical definition of love is "you before me, your needs before mine". This is pretty self explanitory. You put your husband and his needs before your own. This does include being a loving and willing partner with your husband in the bedroom. You keep yourself for him alone, he is the one you love, the one God has brought into your life. Do not go outside of your marriage for affirmation or any thing you think you should be getting from your husband but are not. God will fill the gap and meet your needs. You speak well of your husband,you encourage him in the good he does for you and the family. Let him know that you are proud of him and appreciate him. The husband is to be the spiritual leader in the family, God expects the husband to lead the family. The husband must always remember that his wife is a gift to him from the Lord and he needs to show her love and appreciation as a gift from the Lord.
The young woman is to love her children - As mothers we know this to be so true. A young woman will spend countless hours and energy with the children, loving them and meeting so many needs. Many times a mother is so tired from being on duty as mom 24 hours every day, 7 days a week. The needs of the children are never ending and yet being a mom is one of the greatest joys on earth. God will surely bless each mother who so diligently cares for the children that God has given. Each child is a special gift from the Lord above and must always be treated kindly and lovingly and as a true gift.

Verse 5 -To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

To be discreet, chaste - we have already touched on the topic of being discreet and chaste. This certainly does refer to how a woman dresses. As I wrote earlier, God is not honored by low cut revealing and tight clothing. This also refers to good decision making in other areas as well. We should not be extravagant and spend money unnecessarily. It is so very easy to spend more than we should, so we must always be on guard in our spirits to not allow the devil to mess us up in this area. We must be careful what we watch on TV, or the internet and we must be careful what we allow our children to watch. We must be careful of our friendships including those on Facebook and guard against gossip, we must be careful of who are children are spending time with. There is much to be cautious about and we must give ourselves to prayer and the study of the Bible in order to hear the Holy Spirit whisper words of guidance into our hearts throughout the day.

Now we come to "keepers at home" - some translations say " keepers of [their own] houses",  some say "homemakers" or "good housekeepers." The woman's first place is in the home, caring for the family and taking care of the home. These are her main responsibilities. God has created the husband and the wife with roles that compliment each other and that bring blessing and peace to the family unit. We need to trust the Lord to provide the strength needed to carry out the role that He has ordained even if it is not glamorous.

Now we come to the word "good" - this means good and kindhearted, tenderhearted - doing good from within your heart, not because it is expected of you but because in your heart you want to do that which pleases our loving heavenly Father.

Next we come to "obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed" , now you probably have questions! What does this mean? This is written as a protection for the family unit. Someone has to be the person to make the final decision in a matter, and God says it is the husband's job. This does not mean that a woman in under the authority of every man on the planet, only her own husband has authority. This type of authority is not demeaning or like a ruler, or a "do as I say or else type of authority". Not at all!!  This is a loving response on the part of both husband and wife to accomplish that which is in best for the family in the eyes of the Lord. The husband will someday give account before the Lord as to how he has lived and how he has lead the family in the role of lover, provider, spiritual leader, guide and the one who has the final word in the bigger decisions of life. There must be respect and the husband must allow his wife to give input and her perspective in these bigger family life decisions. A man and woman will see things differently and both perspectives are important, so there needs to be good constructive conversations. God wants each of us to live so as to bring glory to His Name. It will build the family life and those around us will be drawn to seek the Lord.