I think we as women are all too familiar with the feeling of needing to prove ourselves; being doubted; being considered lesser than. It’s my belief that such a feeling drives us to intense studies. In the United States, more women are enrolled in college than men, and black women are more enrolled than anyone else. Of course, the working theory is that this education will better your life, raise your status, and open greater doors. I’m not here to contest that, as I believe that seeking knowledge and understanding is as important as good hygiene!
Instead my focus is on how earthly wisdom is penetrating the heart of modern wives, and therefore entering her home and her children’s eye-gates.
Titus 2 orders the older women of the assembly to instruct the younger women in many areas, such as chastity, motherhood, and being a good wife. But one of the most important things it says is to teach younger women to be keepers at home (Titus 2:5).
‘Keeper at home’ in this verse, is originally based on the earlier Greek writings, and was translated from the term οἰκουργός (oikourgos), a word used to describe a guard. Guards are not just the people who stand at the gate or the door, waiting to defend against potential intruders. They are the ones who protect the king’s interests, making sure the king can carry out his duties without any issues.
If we are taking heed to earthly wisdom instead of guarding against it, how can The King of Kings carry out His Will in our homes– in His Kingdom?
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
-James 3:13-15
The entire reading of James 3 has a good Word about controlling our lips and discerning between earthly and Heavenly wisdom. But I want to highlight a simple truth: there is a wisdom which comes from Above, and then there is a wisdom that is earthly, sensual, and devilish. How do we as wives know which kinds of knowledge in our lives fit these three categories?
It’s simple, the Bible tells us very clearly:
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life!
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of EL abideth for ever.
-1 John 2:15-17 KJV
Is the Bible more specific though? Of course!
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21 NLT
These are all such things wives are to guard against. Notice how it says “and other sins like these”, meaning, the list could go on and on. But we don’t just focus on keeping these things out. We focus more on letting Yahuah in! Respecting His authority, letting Him rule over our hearts, and taking every thought captive to servitude in Anointing!
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Those who belong to Yeshua HaMashiach have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.
In our endeavor for wisdom and understanding, let us not be amazed by earthly wisdom: sorceries, astrologies, witchcraft, divinations and soothsayings. Let us not uphold “science” above the wisdom which comes from On High. We know there is nothing greater than Yah, His Commandments and His Kingdom. Being wiser doesn’t make us greater than the next person, doesn’t make us better leaders than our husbands, and certainly won’t guarantee our salvation.
To be wise is a good thing; we just need to be discerning of whether said wisdom is earthly and sensual, or Heavenly and liberating!
