Not One Bible Verse Instructs Women to Have Careers

Not One Bible Verse Instructs Women to Have Careers

Of course, careers for women came from a godless, heathen world! There is nothing in the Bible that encourages or instructs women to leave their homes for hours every day, their children with strangers to raise, and go to a job. If there is one, I have never read it. Yes, there are some women in the Bible who made things in their homes and sold them like Lydia and the Proverbs 31 woman but not one left their home all day long with their children in the care of others and worked for a boss for five days a week.

Yes, some were midwives but they were at home unless they were delivering a baby. They didn’t keep office hours that kept them away from their family for hours every day. Priscilla worked alongside her husband making tents but again, this wasn’t in a factory where she had to be away from her home all day long. She was being a help meet to her husband. Deborah was a judge in Israel but it doesn’t say anything about her holding regular office hours, working for a boss, and nothing about her having children but she was referred to as the Mother of Israel.

Are older women, as written in the Bible, to be known for their careers? No! They should be known for bringing up children, lodging strangers, washing the saints’ feet, relieving the afflicted, diligently following every good work (1 Timothy 5:10) and teaching the younger women (Titus 2:4). There’s nothing about them having careers.

Widows are not commanded to go out and pursue careers. Their families are the ones who should care for them and if the widow doesn’t have family, then the churches are to care for the widows. (Notice 1 Timothy 5:4 states who in the family should care for widows; “children or nephews” not “children or nieces” – the female children would most likely be married and have husbands who would provide whereas the nephews should help provide, not the nieces.) This is how God set it all up for the provision of women.

Men are the ones in the Bible that God commands to be the providers. This is God’s perfect will from the beginning of time and He reminds us that His commands are not burdensome. Nothing is impossible with Him and if He wants women home with their families, He will provide a way. He instructs us to ask for wisdom and He will give it freely!

There are several problems I see with women having careers, even when they are single. After spending all the time and money in pursuing their career, it’s difficult to give it up once the children come along, if and when they do. Also, many husbands like the money their wives make and don’t want them to stop so they insist on their wives keeping the job even when it becomes a strain on the wife. Married women who don’t have children still come home exhausted after working all day. They don’t have the energy to care for their homes or husbands like they would like to do, unless they are high energy women.

I believe one of the main causes of divorce today is due to women having careers. Women put all of their time and energy into their careers and neglect their husbands. They were created to be their husband’s help meet but they fail to do what God has called them to do because they can’t do everything and are too tired and exhausted to be helpers to their husbands. This is a recipe for failure and marriage is important to the Lord so it should be a priority for us; for marriage is an example to a lost world of Christ and His Church! Plus, when women have careers, they know that they have the freedom to divorce their husbands since they aren’t dependent upon their husbands for provision but God created wives to be dependent upon their husbands. This is a good thing, contrary to popular opinion.

Women who have careers typically have to work for a boss and the boss is usually a man, therefore, she is living in submission to a man who isn’t her husband which is not God’s plan. Plus, women don’t have the physical makeup that a man has and God created women with a more sensitive and emotional nature in order to be home with their children and/or caring for others, not out in the workforce.

What about single women who never get married? God’s instructions to them are to be holy in body and spirit. No, they don’t have to live underneath their father’s authority their entire lives. I know there are some who believe this but I don’t see this being instructed in the Bible although for protection and provision it is a good idea. She does need to know about the dangers of pursuing a career in case she does eventually get married.

But what about the women who do remain single their entire lives and don’t get married? What if careers are causing many more women to not get married since they don’t “need” a man to take care of them? What if this pursuit by women for careers makes them unattractive to men since they become forceful and independent? God’s plan from the beginning is for men and women to marry. He created men to need a help meet.

Colleges and universities don’t help women acquire meek and gentle spirits. Quite the contrary! They teach them to be strong (apart from the Lord), independent (they don’t need a husband), speak their minds, and stand up for themselves which is completely opposite of what the Lord wants for women. They don’t teach them to be gentle, submissive help meets to their husbands or how to raise godly offspring. Neither do they teach them anything about godly womanhood; no, not even the Christian colleges and universities since they push careers on the women.

There are many things women can do who aren’t married without getting a job. Culture tell us that there’s only option for young women today but it’s not. The young, unmarried Duggar and Bates women take courses on-line, serve their families, go on mission’s trips, assist midwives, serve their communities, find ways to make money from home, and many other things that help others instead of pursuing careers which take them away from their homes. This seems the way it should be, in my opinion.

Women working have taken many jobs away from men. Men NEED to work. God created them to have jobs and this usually defines them, whereas women define themselves by their relationships. Men don’t have to take off time when they bear children, their children get sick (if they have a wife at home), and they don’t feel guilt leaving their children all day long like women do because women know deep down that they are the ones who are supposed to be home with their own children.

I believe all godly women need to live their lives as if they may get married and have children some day. The worse thing would be to pursue a college education, amass a large debt, and place this burden upon their husbands when they get married, thus continuing to have to work after having children to pay off their debt. This is insanity to me! There are too many women that tell me they want to come home but are unable due to debt, their living style is too high, or their husbands want them to work because they make a large salary.

Finally, we are to live our lives according to God’s Word, not culture’s path. Young women, prayerfully consider the path you want to take. I encourage you to study God’s Word (all of the verses pertaining to godly womanhood) and make your decisions from doing this instead of watching the way our society’s women are going which has only led to the destruction of our culture. Children grow up to be much more productive members of society when they are loved and nurtured by their mothers during their childhood.

Please, don’t ask me about women being nurses (Do you know how hard it is for women to be on their feet for twelve hour shifts?), teachers, dental assistants or having careers such as these. I can assure you that not all of the women in the world are going to go home full time by reading this post or my blog. There will always be plenty of female nurses and teachers since there are many women who have no desire to be home full time, many more who are not believers so they don’t care about God’s will for their lives, and others who are not convicted that they should be home for their families and not have careers. There’s no need to hyperventilate about it!

Thankfully, I am not the judge of the world. I am only teaching my convictions based upon what I have read in the Word and obeying what the Lord has instructed older women to teach younger women, namely, to be keepers at home so they won’t blaspheme the Word of God which is a terrible thing to do.

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are ye not much better than they?
Matthew 6:26

Labor not for the meat which perishes, but for the meat which endures unto everlasting life.
John 6:27

39 thoughts on “Not One Bible Verse Instructs Women to Have Careers

  1. Amen.

    There is simply so much truth here!

    When my husband and I were first married, I worked full-time. It was a horrible idea. I came home every day exhausted, and we ended up eating crummy food (boxed mac and cheese, etc.) every night because I was too tired to cook properly. After a short time, we gave up that lifestyle, and I’ve been home full-time ever since. It’s totally worth it!

    I also agree with you about women who don’t have children yet being at home. The advice generally given is that the married woman should work full-time until she has children. Not a great idea! Not only does the home get neglected (see above!), but what generally (i.e. almost always) happens is that the couple gets used to the higher income and can’t/won’t give it up when the children do arrive on the scene. I’ve seen it so many times.

    And YES to the issue of student debt. It cripples families. I know of one young mom who will NEVER be home with her children, ever, because she has hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans. This is not uncommon, and even lesser student loans require a full-time job to pay off.

    Thank you, as always, for speaking hard truths.

  2. You’re welcome, Diana. I agree with you and I can’t think of one good reason for women to go to college or have careers. It’s done irreversible destruction to our culture since it has destroyed the family unit and children’s security.

  3. Lori, I firmly believe this is one of the best blog posts you’ve ever written, chock full with so much rich Biblical truth. All I can say after reading it is amen and nicely done. God bless you.

  4. Not all college students end up with debt — there are academic and athletic scholarships! My daughter got her Phd with zero debt. I don’t see anything wrong with women getting college degrees, even if they desire to be keepers of the home. Wouldn’t having a college degree actually make a woman better at home schooling her children?

  5. Thank you Lori for this awesome post! I was not raised in a Christian home and my mother worked. I loved all things domestic early in my life. When I became a Christian I didn’t know my Bible and so didn’t know about praying for the Lord’s provision so I went to work because of finances. It wasn’t until years laterr when I was reading in Titus, that Titus 2 hit me, but even then didn’t know how to come home, finances were locked in, but the Lord is good and the company I worked for pulled out of my state, I tried a small business that didn’t take off and I have been at home for two years now ,and we are fine, the Lord has provided! If you are a woman locked into a job and desire to be home, pray for deliverence and don’t give up praying…

  6. I would like to respectfully ask you to answer this question: What about World War 2? Most of the men were off fighting so the women had to work full time to take care of their families and also to build the planes and weapons needed to fight. Their children turned out very well and their marriages were just fine. In my family all my grandparents were married 50+ years. So why was it ok then but it’s not ok now?

  7. There’s no need to hyperventilate about it! ??? I love it! Made me laugh! Great post, as usual! ?

  8. Lori, I’ve read your blog for maybe five years now. I don’t always initially agree with you, but I keep coming back because God keeps using your words to speak into my life. I was single and working fulltime when I started to read your blog (no one else was going to support me financially). Now, I’m blessed to be married to a kind man who is seeking God. I am able to work (mostly from home) for a Christian organization doing work I love and I have the flexibility and time to do it. My husband recently finished his masters and is blessed with a fulltime job. I’m able to make my husband all his meals with whole foods, keep the very small space we rent clean, do the grocery shopping, etc. and still have time to work from home. This extra income has been helpful to my husband through his grad school and now we are in a position to buy a modest home. But now, I’m open to the next stage of our life. I want to start a family very soon. My husband has already indicated that when the time comes to have a family, he will support me if I want to stay home full time and not work from home, or work very few hours from home. I am very ready to have a family and he wants to wait until we are in a house and settled. How can I both submit to my husand’s desire to wait to have a family and my own desire to follow God and be a wife and mother? And how would you recommend I pray for my current work situation? Should I abandon the opportunity to bring in extra income to our household if I can do it from home and on my own time? Or would this fall into Proverbs 31 work?

  9. Hello Lori

    I feel on my heart that I need to share something that I would be much too fearful to share in real life.

    I have worked in daycare for over ten years. After I became a mother I tried to run a home daycare but found it took over our lives and stopped, prior to that I have worked in big daycare centres, small daycare centres, company owned daycare centres, family owned daycare centres and government daycare centres. I have seen them all. I believe I was very good at my job and I have worked with many passionate and educated women but after all my experience I can say without hesitation that young children NEED to be at home with their mothers.

    The daycare industry has this happy go lucky, positive, fun image that parents are buying but the reality is your children are spending all day crying, being hit and bitten by other children, conforming to strict routines that cannot meet the needs of each individual child because there are simply too many of them. They are bored, scared, EXHAUSTED, sad and they just want to be home. Sure they may have some fun on a good day but there is a reason most children cry when you leave. There is a reason I have to pry them screaming hysterically from your arms and hold them as they sob. The reason is they don’t belong there. Daycare workers try their best but have you ever cared for eight babies who were not your own with the help of one other adult? Add in cleaning and more paperwork than you can imagine and it is literally impossible to give these precious little babies the love and care they individually deserve.

    Then there is the alarmingly frightening fact that you are trusting strangers to look after your@child without your supervision for up to fifty hours a week. I have seen some horrible things in my time and have always advocated for the rights of the children but many daycare workers are burnt out and run down.

    If you are reading this and you choose to place your child in care for a break, to study or to “socialize” them PLEASE reconsider. We do love your kids but not one millionth as much as you do. We do try to give them a great experience but they miss you and group care is just not the positive environment you have been led to believe it is. Bring your babies home, love them and meet their individual needs because daycare workers simply can’t.

  10. Lori, You are GEM! And your words are RARE and SCARCE! Especially in today’s culture and unfortunately the Church as well! God has encouraged me greatly through your writings! You give us younger Godly women the encouragement we need to keep on the narrow path! You are loved and treasured in my heart; even though we’ve never met! Thank you for your exhortations – PLEASE DON’T STOP!!!

  11. No, Kelly. There are many good homeschooling programs now that women don’t need to spend a bundle of money, go into debt, and be exposed to secular humanists teachings to be good teachers. Many of our early great presidents were homeschooled by mothers without college degrees. Universities have poisoned our culture and I don’t see how any one would want to support them unless it’s for the few careers that actually require a degree like being a doctor, lawyer, etc. which is best sought after by men.

  12. Yes, God is able to do abundantly more than we ever hope or dream of when we trust Him, Robin. Thankfully, the Lord made a way for you to be home doing exactly what He has called you to do!

  13. I don’t teach what happened in history and try to surmise how it all turned out, Millie. I teach what God commands older women to teach younger women and His ways are always best. No one can replace a mother in a child’s life.

  14. How do you submit to your husband? By submitting! He is your head and as you submit to him, you submit to the Lord. Give your heart’s desires to the Lord, live out 1 Peter 3:1-6, and wait upon the Lord to soften and change His heart. God is great at doing this as we submit to His will.

    If you can work from home, this is always ideal so pursue this option, especially as children come along. Hopefully, your husband will make enough money so you can focus all of your attention on being his help meet, raising your children, and working hard at home!

  15. Thank you for sharing and it’s a terrible situation. These daycare workers can’t train, discipline, and teach these children properly. For believers, they certainly aren’t going to raise them in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. Like Dr. Laura used to say, “If you’re going to have children, be the one to raise them!”

  16. Thank you, Kim! I will write as long as the Lord wills since I love it and am blessed to be an older women teaching younger women. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else (except cuddle with my grandchildren)! 🙂

  17. Hi Lori,

    Would you consider being an author and/or running a ministry a career?

    I appreciate your response.

  18. If it takes time away from family, being a help meet to their husband, a mother to their children, and keeping a clean and tidy home, yes. God doesn’t call us to be an author or running a ministry. He does instruct older women to teach the younger women and tells them exactly what to teach them as I am doing but I don’t hold office hours. I am not submissive to anyone but my husband. I am at home and have plenty of time to keep my home clean and tidy and be a help meet to my husband. Plus, I don’t get a paycheck!

  19. I’m going to disagree with you on the following, “I believe one of the main causes of divorce today is due to women having careers.” *Not saying that you’re wrong, but I’d like to share my different opinion

    Here’s why: After listening to Dr. Laura (I don’t agree with every thing she says) talk to divorced women or women calling in for Dr. Laura’s opinion on whether or not they should get divorced, the common theme that I noticed was that the women knew before getting married that they shouldn’t marry them. They ignored the red flags (cheater, excessive drinking, can’t maintain a job, uncontrolled anger, etc.).

    I’ve talked to divorced & remarried older female coworkers and they all admitted that they knew that they shouldn’t have married their ex-husbands (warnings from friends and family, knew he was cheating, etc.)

    I’m 23 and single and I know that I want to be a SAHM who homeschools her kids. It’s a deal breaker…

  20. Thank you for God’s truth. This was great affirmation for me today as I have had trouble holding on faithfully to this truth lately. Now days we are looked down on for this and even our own “Christian” families speak behind us that we are lazy and don’t want to go to work. It hurts and I am praying that God truly frees me from the opinion of others. I used to guilt myself when I worked outside the home and feel horrible and my heart was NEVER in a career, every job I had promised I would not have to work weekends and not travel , though it never failed months into the job I would be working later hours and on Saturdays. I felt the resistance and finally fell to my knees one day and cried out to God – He lead me to Titus within the next 24 hours and since then I made up my mind and God gave me security on this – lately though I have been getting a little bitter with some of my husbands family who are Christians but look down on me. I know this is not right to be bitter but I feel completely misunderstood.

  21. I am coming to the same mindset and conviction of living without a career. I’ve been pursuing one but since I got baptized have yet to get my feet off the ground. I had such trouble with this since I felt it was a necessity but now I realize God isn’t supporting it. I strongly believe God is changing my heart on the issue and your post sums it up. I am currently single and would like to marry one day. I work but I am feeling the conviction to quit my job and focus on supporting my family (father and brothers) in their pursuit of a career l. I just don’t know how to do it. It is a taboo in our society and I’m not sure how to live without working.

  22. I have two degrees that I payed for on my own. I grew up with two working parents. I always thought I’d have a baby and go back to work. Boy was I wrong! It felt like my heart being ripped from my chest when I was away from her. I was depressed for a year or so after I had her. I couldn’t figure out why until now. I’m not made to be a career woman. I am made to be a mother and wife. My heart is with my family.

  23. Thank you for this article. While I agree with a lot of it, many women who love the Lord have no options. I’m 45 single and live in California to be close to family. I have no choice as the price of living is high. I live at home and desperately want my own place but the only places I can barely afford after in marginal areas. I don’t have the luxury to not work as I’m trying to gain independence. Single women have to earn a living or we can lose the roof over our heads! What advice would you give someone in my shoes? I would love to be married but I wish your article addressed our group. Be blessed.

  24. The only thing that the Lord says specifically to unmarried women is that they be holy in body and spirit. Keep waiting on the Lord and trusting Him. Let His Word dwell in you richly. He is a good God and His plan for you is good!

  25. Thank you for the post! If only all women had the same opportunity…

    The hard core truth to this matter is that politics still exist both outside and inside the church. Some women are “unwanted” and it is too hard for some women to marry based on skin color and other factors, even with all the praying done. (I do not think appearance matters either).

    No one can place blame as these things were systematically done, even in the church, and it has damaged the lives of many. Some women have no family and have been abandoned. They do not have nephews, uncles, etc…to take care of them, so they have no choice but to work to provide for themselves and to pay rent.

    Even if help was available from family members, it would only be for a short while, depending on the female. Thus, some women feel the need to work even more because of these things. The Messiah is returning soon, though, so that is something to look forward to…Revelation 21 KJV

  26. I wish my partner of 13 years spoke like you fine women do! I keep a job Im dissatisfied with, have had to turn down higher pay and better work..all because she insists on working and having money to blow than being as God designed her, a stay at home mother who works from home. Ive prayed and considered leaving..but cant. Our children need us both. I daydream about a Biblical, God fearing woman! She wants to be the last word, the boss, and is completely opposed to anything I say about proper female role in a Christian home. Im miserable. It has caused a miserable world for men who hold to Scriptural ways. Sad.

  27. The world has so thoroughly corrupted both men and women, which includes the misconceptions of certain rights and liberties that have actually become quite the (not funny) joke these days.

    Not to put down women, but ever since the “burning bra era” where more women are out about instead of staying home to be a real wife and mother to her family, there has been a dramatic surge in immoral behavior like a ravenous cancer.

    Right alongside that is the cost of living that has skyrocketed to the point where it’s becoming increasingly difficult for families to have the woman stay at home.

    All of it is by design and it’s a very evil one. It was intended all along by those who cater to the Luciferian way of things instead of God’s.

    What’s more noticeable than ever before is moral instability, debased mindsets and ungodly lifestyles that now make me empathize with God as to why He flooded the earth during Noah’s days and why He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

    People brought that onto themselves by conforming to the whims of the world instead of staying true to Him. This exact same thing happened when the tribes of Israel and Judah were forced into exile.

    And it’ll happen again.

    I do have a career, but I don’t have children. I do have a husband, but I’m trapped in one of those situations where I have no choice but to work. I’m soon to be 49 years old.

    However, I don’t let my career rule my life. God does that. I simply comply for as long as I have to until I find the first opportunity to break free. I work as a cook – which I actually use as an opportunity to minister wherever I can.

    I’m taking a negative situation and making a positive out of it, pointing out that if man had obeyed God’s 10 Commandments from the get go without fail, we wouldn’t have the kind of society we do now.

  28. To care for home and children while pursuing a career can be very challenging, but they have to be balanced unless one suffer for another. If we are to put both ends on a scale, the one that wins is to care for the family.

  29. What about Lydia, who was a seller of purple, she had her own business. Act16:14. ‘One who heard us was a woman name Lydia a seller of Purple goods…….’

  30. That was a very powerful statement. I believe it to be true also. I have always felt in my heart that a Mother should be there for her children, I have never felt it more strongly then when I had my three children. I could never imagine putting my precious children in daycare for someone else to raise. We made our one income familys budget stretch. We hit up garage sales, thrift shops etc, We had a house to live in and 2 cars.. second hand but very driveable.. Then when our family grew to 5, we moved to a more suitable house with a bedroom for each child. I believe that many young couples over spend. They have to :Keep up with the Jonses” so to speak. If they could use temperance in their purchases they might find out that it is very possible for a Mother to stay home and raise her own children. It is certainly preferable to the alternative.

  31. ”Women who have careers typically have to work for a boss and the boss is usually a man, therefore, she is living in submission to a man who isn’t her husband which is not God’s plan. ”

    How do you feel about inversely women who hold supervisor or boss roles over men….This would also not be God’s plan….at my work i am honestly uncomfortable and it feels very awkward seeing pregnant women walking around…..taking maternity leave….only to come back to there supervisor -boss position….this does not seem right at all…..a large portion of men are leaving corporate america…or just flat out being pushed out….

    I want to get out as soon as i can because once you understand God’s design for men and women roles…. working in this environment is just bizarre and the average woman is oblivious to how feminism has made the workplace a strange toxic environment.

  32. Wow, this something that has been on my heart for awhile now. I been feeling in my heart how hard it might be to balance a career and take care of my family. Formerly I was once a feminist and my christian walk was not what it is today. Now I feel like going against culture and deciding to stay home with my kids and also take care of my husband. It’s strange how this has become so taboo. The only thing stopping me is caring g so much about what other people will think

  33. I agree with most of what this article says but one thing that needs to be addressed is that fewer men these days resemble their biblical counterparts. Many married men become unemployed and choose to remain so for years, often drinking, watching TV or playing video games. Many women would like to fulfill their God-given roles of stay at home mothers and full-time housewives but they don’t like the idea of putting their whole lives into someone else’s hands. Also what if her husband becomes disabled or dies? She will be uneducated, unemployed, and likely only qualified for minimum wage jobs. If she has several children, how will she be able to support them? In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have to consider these things, but these things do happen.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *