The Duty of Daughters

You are a daughter; therefore you must live up to that expectation.

Need an explanation?  Okay, be prepared for a long and bumpy roller coaster ride: thrilling, yet life-changing.

Let's begin at the beginning.

When God first created mankind, He created both male and female.  Wait, that still isn't the very beginning.  A little farther back...

It was the sixth day of Creation.  The LORD God had already created Adam and the many divers animals.  Adam was given the task of naming every beast of the field.  But after the task was finished, there was no helper comparable to him.  God then took a rib from the sleeping Adam and made Woman, whom Adam called Eve.  She was his help meet.  (Genesis 2)

From the beginning of the world, woman's place was clear: she was to be man's helper.  Every woman is the help meet to her husband.  That is the definition of a wife.

Genesis 2:24 says, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."   One flesh.  A husband and wife are to be joined together for life, both fulfilling their purpose in that life.  Man is the provider and bread-winner of the home (1 Timothy 5:8); woman is the keeper of the home (1 Timothy 5:14).  Each has their own individual responsibility and purpose ordained by God.

Up through the centuries, woman has became bold.  Women wanted independence and status in the world.  The skirts and aprons, pots and pans, babies and diapers, cleaning and cooking, submissiveness and honor, and all the qualities of a proper, good woman of the house were thrown into the garbage.  To replace such things: smoking, loud speeches, obnoxious voices, manly clothing and haircuts, careers, and college degrees have crept in, polluting woman's role.  Women are no longer satisfied to marry a godly man, have babies, take care of the house, prepare meals, sew, clean, help their husband in his work and business, thus maintaining a proper and orderly house.  No, they want to head off to college for four years, graduate with a diploma and go into their career, then maybe marry by age 27 and have one kid, still keeping their beloved career. 

Woman thinks that she "can do anything a man can do."  However, men cannot do everything women do, and women cannot do everything men do.   God did not create us that way.

Sadly, because of woman's desire to be free of man's rule, the women of today no longer understand a true woman's role.  We have been brainwashed into thinking we are every bit as good as a man.  We have been taught that women are to be independent and strong, knowing how to get what she wants and willing to do anything she wishes.  

What are the consequences?  Less and less families, more and more women employees, more and more illegitimate babies, women politicians, etc.  Less true wives and mothers, less homemakers, and a whole lot less femininity.  The society of woman is in a mess.  Let's go a little further and say that the whole of society is in a mess.....the whole world is in a mess!  Woman has lost her role in life.

What has this to do with daughters? you may think.  We're not wives yet.

While you are at home, your father is the head over you.  You submit to him.  That is the greatest preparation you can have to one day submit to your own husband. (Ephesians 5:22-24)  (Have trouble with submitting? Read this amazing article.)

Do you plan to go to college?  Do you plan to have a career?  Do you even plan to get married and have babies one day?  Lord willing, I plan to do the latter.  No, I'm not going off to college and I most certainly am not having a career outside the home.  God did not intend for women to have equal status in the world as men.  True, we are all of equal worth in His eyes, but He gave us different positions.  Woman is the wife, the mother, the keeper of the home.  Why do women and men have to do the same things?  As I said before, men cannot do everything women do, and women cannot do everything men can do.  They only think they can.  We all can be smart and gifted, but for different purposes.

Now that we have woman's true place in life figured out, what about the daughter?  One day the daughter will be grown up and get married.  Then she will have the duty and responsibility of being a wife and mother.  How will she know what to do?  Most young women today don't even know how to cook or clean or take care of babies, much more keep a house in decent running order.  How will a daughter know?  By learning at home.  Home is the best place to learn, the only place to learn.  College sure doesn't teach young women the necessary skills of running a household.  We daughters are to learn under our parents' tutelage.     From a very young age we can learn to clean house, cook meals, take care of babies, plus helping our fathers to progress their vision or business.  We will one day be a help meet (Lord willing) to our own husbands; therefore we can prepare for that day by helping our fathers.

Have a servant's heart.  Be willing to help out at anytime.  We are naturally selfish creatures, but as a very wise woman made clear to me, we women are not to progress our own desires, our own visions, our own wishes.  God created us to help men.  That means we are to help progress their desires, their visions, their wishes, not our own.

I've struggled myself in this area, and honestly, I have not been the daughter I should be.  I have been too caught up in my own desires, not my father's. (Take my writing attempts: I have been too busy with myself, when I should have been helping him. Like the very wise woman told me, we can still develop our own gifts that God has given us, but we are to perform our role in life first and foremost.)  How will that one day look to my future husband?  If I don't help my father out with his vision, what cause would there be to make a man think I would be a proper and helpful wife? (not that that should be the only reason we daughters help out our fathers. Please don't misunderstand me.)

I don't want to be seen like that.  Now I need to refocus and have a helping heart.  I scold myself for my lack of productiveness and earnestness.  However, just because we girls mess up doesn't mean we give up altogether. No!  Fail is not an option.  Let's start preparing for our own husbands (whether we get married or not) by preparation in the home.  I determine to reevaluate myself and get back on track.

Our single years are precious; we'll never regain them.  Do we want to waste them in idle longing, wishing and waiting for Prince Charming to ride up on a white stallion and take us off to fairyland?  Or do we want to be fully trained and prepared, having used our single years for the glory of God and for the help and benefit of our family?

Which will it be?  Will you embrace your duty?

Great places to check out for more additional info:  

Covenant Devotion

Visionary Daughters 

Joyfully at Home