In the five situations we mentioned in our prior lesson (i.e., the husband requires his wife to work outside the home, the husband is disabled, or the mother is desolate, divorced, or widowed), nothing is said about needing more money as a reason for a Christian mother to leave the home and enter the workplace. In most cases a husband should be able to provide adequately for his family. Doing such may require him to work even harder than he is presently (perhaps at an additional job). It may also require the family to cut back many or all unnecessary expenditures. However, even then if the couple has made some poor choices financially and obligated themselves, debt may force a mother into the workplace also.

Although it is difficult to lower one's standard of living, such can be done. Keeping up with the Joneses should not be your standard. You may have to take some drastic measures to live on one income (e.g., sell your current home and purchase a less expensive one, drive an old car instead of a new one, get rid of your second vehicle, wear less expensive clothes, quit eating out, quit going to the mall, etc.). It is the devil who says, "You can't make it on one income today!", but the devil is a liar and the father of all lies. Don't believe him! The high cost of living is not the problem for most people today but rather the cost of high living.

Art Kohl had this to say about his grandmothers:

I marvel at my two grandmothers. My 95-year-old grandmother reared 13 children and never worked outside the home. My 83-year-old grandmother reared 6 children and many foster children and never worked outside the home. They never demanded their rights. They never insisted on having a deck, new kitchen, carpet, furniture, pool, two cars, nice home, camper, fancy clothes, makeup, shoes, and all this other empty trash that so many women think will bring them happiness today. No, they weren't covetous; they were content.

They weren't proud either. They didn't go through life thinking they "deserved" better than just to be a mother and wife. They, having lived fulfilling lives, have children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren who think they are the greatest. Yet they did all this, not living in the prosperity of today, but through the Great Depression and the War.

Friends, I fear that many families today are too proud to confess that they are covetous. In fact, many don't even realize their hearts are full of materialism because they think and behave like "everyone else" in this covetous country. Those who are wise will turn their hearts away from things, money, and the pursuit of a high standard of living and back to the precious immortal souls of their children.

We will continue this study in our next lesson.