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The old saying goes that a woman’s work is never done. In our culture today, she is expected to take care of the home, raise a family and make money. She is supposed to have the finest things money can buy, be connected at the appropriate social outings and serve as a chauffeur to any sporting event that a child wants to attend.
She is expected to be many things, but like Martha of old who was told that Mary chose the best thing, a woman’s greatest calling is often overlooked—the place that she can make the biggest impact in the world is right in her very own home.
The Greatest Calling
All believers are to be doing four things…
Go: The idea is that we are not to become stagnant, but to be going. It’s a command, it’s not a suggestion.
Make disciples of all nations: Where we are to share the Gospel knows no bounds. For the early church, this was the call to spread outside of Jerusalem. For us today, it is that we should be ready to give the Gospel no matter where our life finds us.
Baptize them: Baptism is important. Here in the Great Commission we find, again, that it occurs after we have made disciples.
Teach them to observe everything Jesus commanded: It isn’t enough to cover one topic. It isn’t enough to disciple right after they are saved, but we must be continuing to disciple.
Therefore the greatest command of all men and women is to be making disciples.
How does this relate to a woman’s greatest calling?
This command relates to the unmarried woman as much as anyone. It’s also a reminder to men (as most of today’s sermon will be) that it is our calling as well.
To the Married Woman before Children (Ephesians 5:22-33)
One of the first things that we find in this passage is that the wife is to submit and respect her husband. This is something that takes practice. It’s not something automatic. If it were, there would be no need for a command!
Creating good communication habits is the best thing that a couple can do before kids. Having a good relationship with your spouse before kids is a great way to give children something they desperately need, an example of a committed relationship.
The husband is to love his wife. It goes without saying that this should not be a one way street, yet each of these commands is given out of love for one another—an agape love. That means that these things should be practice regardless of whether the partner is doing what they are supposed to be doing.
The two are to be one flesh. Just as you wouldn’t separate yourself from your arm, you should not be separated from your spouse. You two are together to meet each other’s needs.
The Married women without children in her home must still be at the work of making disciples. Many use this time to learn more about their spouse. The temptation is there to waste away time. For me, I found that I have never watched so much television before the kids arrived.
We should give of the strength of our youth, to serve others. There is much work to be done in the house of the Lord. Just as Paul believed the single individual could spend more time in Christ’s service, the young married team can do the same.
To The Married Woman With Children (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
The greatest impact you’ll ever have in the world will be through your children. Consider: very few men or women will ever gain fame, and yet every mom sends forth to the next generation children that carry their imprint.
We are reaping, in this society, the results of a generation who left the raising of their children to a state that is decreasingly Christian in nature. Our children, our most valuable asset, are being turned away from the Scripture and taught to challenge it at the public school. It’s not just in the science classes, where the foundation of the Bible is undermined by the theory of Evolution. It’s in the choices of books to read in English, the language and disrespect they see others have to teachers, the revisions that are done to History, and the removal of the teaching of the Bible and the conversations in the hall.
The reason for the moral decay today is that our children no longer have the foundation that they once had. At one point in our country’s history, we brought even public school kids up on the Bible. Today, it’s practically forbidden.
Parents are instructed in Deut 6:4-9 to be constantly teaching their kids the Scriptures and reminding them of God. Where can you fit that in?
It’s more than just ignorance of Bible doctrine; it’s the lack of seeing Christ lived out in lives because of programming. We want to give our kids everything, but could we wind up withholding the most needful thing?
Your best area of success in reaching the lost for Christ sits around your dinner table. Your children, your spouse and your family are the ones most likely to be influenced directly by your testimony. Your children are beings that will last into eternity.
Your life is constantly watched. You may get things done, but how are you doing them? You have priorities, but are they reflected in your choices…
- How do you spend your down time?
- Have you shared Christ in front of your children?
- How do you react when you’re frustrated or mad?
We all fail, do we allow forgiveness?
To The Married Woman After Kids (Titus 2:3-5)
You should be discipling the next generation. As anyone matures in their Christian faith, they should be reproducing that faith in other believers.
This means taking time and investing it in sharing God’s Word.
As kids are gone, your life should not simply be about the newfound “free time” but upon redeeming the time.
Older women are asked to teach, especially to teach the younger women specific things:
- What is Good
- Train women to love their husbands and children. This means that it’s not always automatic, and that it is not always easy.
- To be self-controlled
- To be pure
- To work at home
- To be kind
- To be submissive to their husbands.
Why? So the Word of God may not be reviled. Notice that most of these have nothing to do with doctrine as with practical Christian living. Also notice that these actions have to do with a woman’s testimony and reflection on the Word of God. All of these things are things God wants us to do.
The command to make disciples did not end after the children left. You should still be witnessing. Maybe not in the same way, but we are never to stop giving the Gospel.
Both of my grandfathers, as they got older, thought less of what others thought of them, and were able to be more open in what they said. As we care less about what the world thinks, sharing Christ should be easier!
You should still be making disciples. Paul was constantly investing his life in others, be it Silas, Timothy, or Luke.
Who, of the next generation, are you investing your life into?
There is no concept in the Bible of the Christian’s work being done before the Lord calls us home.
Conclusion
There’s always a command, for every generation and at every developmental stage to be reaching others, and while the focus and the audience may change, it’s something that we need to be growing in constantly.
A Woman’s Greatest Calling is a Christian’s Greatest Calling—to put God first, to reach the lost, and to disciple those that come along so that we may all follow Him.
How are we doing?
