Living a homesteading lifestyle is a complete mindset shift from the life that our modern day society teaches us. But what does the bible say about homesteading? Is there affirmation in God’s word that homesteading is a lifestyle that aligns with God’s will? Allow these bible verses to speak to your heart to encourage you on your homesteading journey.
The bible is clear about what it says regarding a simple life: If you are following Jesus by focusing on Him and His will rather than worldly possessions and thoughts, then you will find the true gift of happiness and peace. This means not focusing on material objects or the works of man, but instead focusing on the journey of faith through the simplicity of gifts that living life can offer. There are many bible verses to encourage you on your homesteading journey and affirm what you’re doing.
Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
About Paul, the author of Thessalonians
Paul’s story of transformation is one of the greatest in all biblical stories. To completely change and transform from a Christian persecuting and murdering man, to one who would die for his faith in Jesus Christ is truly a divine miracle. His complete 180 change in personality and lifestyle is moving, and truly helps to bring credibility to his character.
Writing Thessalonians
Thessalonians was a letter written by Paul as a message for the early Christians who were living in fear and turmoil. As they worked to share their new faith in a world that predominantly rejected them, Paul encouraged them with God given wisdom towards living a simple, worthy life.
Paul’s words teach of simple living
Paul’s encouragement to live a “quiet life”, to “work with your hands”, and “mind your own business” can all be goals of a homesteader as well. When our focus is living in a way that isn’t shiny and loud, when we take the time to humbly work with our hands, and when we avoid those whose focus is to spread gossip, drama, and anger, we are following Paul’s divinely spoken words.
Who is Paul speaking to?
Paul’s advice came to Christians who faced judgement and scrutiny constantly in the newly formed religion. His advice to live a humble life that is full of hard work, kindness, and is quiet natured would show people who these Christians were. He hoped that when people thought of Christians, they would think of these hard-working, humble people who stayed out of conflict and drama and lived quietly for the Lord. What a beautiful message that we can still put into practice today!
Putting Paul’s words into practice on your homestead
Living a simple, minimalistic life on a homestead, growing your own food, and focusing on your family and your faith all are examples of modern day ways we can follow what the bible says through a homesteading lifestyle. Some easy ways to make sure you are living a quiet life, working with your hands, and minding your own business can be:
- Live a life that isn’t boastful of your accomplishments. Be humble, composed, and display self-control.
- Don’t brag about your success, wealth, or good fortune. Instead, return your focus to God and your gratitude to Him for what you have.
- Work with your hands to create your homestead. Grow food in the garden with your hands. Build fences, tend to animals, collect eggs with your hands. This time you use your hands for these activities can connect you to nature on a deeper level, and through nature, God.
- Allow your actions to represent what a Christian looks like. Live in such a simple, peaceful, humble way that when people think of a Christian, they think of you fondly. Represent your faith as Paul has taught.
For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
There is truly no place better to see these realities unfold than on a homestead. It really is like the bible is speaking directly to homesteaders with these words, affirming the reality of homesteading life and encouraging those in the journey.
About the author, King Solomon
We can be fairly certain that King Solomon didn’t write his words so that we could have direct understanding 2,000 years later about what the bible says about homesteading. However, he was looking for answers to a rather big question many who choose the homesteading lifestyle are also seeking: what is the meaning and purpose of life?
Son of David
King Solomon is most well known for being the son of David who was one of the most respected biblical characters (even through his many faults). His beautiful wisdom and reflection are found throughout the book of Psalms, where he has written 73 of them.
King Solomon, too, was also known for his wisdom. This, of course, makes sense as we look at the wisdom shown in this bible verse.
Applying Solomon’s words to homestead life
As you start to live with the seasons and your body becomes more in tuned with nature, you begin to realize the profound impact of truth in Solomon’s words in Ecclesiastes. Though the garden is beautiful and bountiful, it cannot last all year. There is a time for us to harvest, and a time for the plants to die. God has designed the world so beautifully this way. By allowing seasons to only last for finite amounts of time, we can truly remember to value and appreciate each and every one that we go through.
Practical applications of Ecclesiastes
- Remind yourself that every season will come to an end. Wherever you are right now, whatever season you are in- it will end. This may be a life season or an Earth one; whatever it is, remembering that it will not last forever is important. For us, this can be both a blessing and something difficult to hear. For seasons of happiness and fulfillment, it’s important to hear this as a reminder that each day should not be taken for granted. To those that are suffering, knowing that another season is coming can be exactly the encouragement you need to keep moving forward and waking up each day.
- Find value in your current season. At the end of each night, share with God your gratitude for something you are experiencing in this season. There is always something to be grateful for.
- Though some things may be difficult to face on a homestead, like slaughtering animals or facing a challenge that seems impossible, know that God is with you. He knows that there is a season to everything, and that not all seasons are easy. Allow Him to enter your life and fill your heart with comfort during those difficult seasons.
And to the man he said,
“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
18 It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
19 By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.”23 So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made.
Genesis 3:17-19, 23
So what does the bible say about homesteading here?
Understanding why we live the life that we are living is important. Adam’s and Eve’s choice to commit the first sin has played an impact on the entire world, and will continue to do so forever. Sin will always have repercussions, whether we feel them or not.
God’s Judgement and Lessons Learned
Because of the sin committed, Adam and Eve were forced out of the Garden of Eden and told that “by the sweat of your brow you will have food to eat”. As homesteaders, we know the true work that goes into producing your own food and cultivating the land. Yet, God wouldn’t give us a cruel punishment like this without purpose.
Purpose in Punishment
God has given us as humanity a punishment to sweat with our brow and cultivate the ground from which we have been made. Through this punishment, there are deep lessons to be learned:
- By putting in the work and labor for our food, we become more aware of our gratitude for what we are able to grow and produce with God’s help in the world He provided.
Through this laborious punishment, we can come to the conclusion on our own that we cannot survive without His divine plan and design for the world. We must rely upon Him and trust His plan at all times.
- Through working so closely with the land, we become in-tune and connected to the natural world around us, connecting us back to where we were originally formed.
By finding a connection with nature, God reminds us of who we are, bringing us to an ultimate sense of connectiveness and peace.
16 She goes to inspect a field and buys it;
with her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She is energetic and strong,
a hard worker.
18 She makes sure her dealings are profitable;
her lamp burns late into the night.19 Her hands are busy spinning thread,
Proverbs 31
her fingers twisting fiber.
20 She extends a helping hand to the poor
and opens her arms to the needy.
21 She has no fear of winter for her household,
for everyone has warm clothes.
What does bible say about homesteading here- specifically homesteading wives?
With many of the tasks being shared, we can easily apply these verses from Proverbs to the life of a homesteading wife. Like the woman being spoken of in the proverb, homesteading women often do much of the behind-the-scenes work to keep the homestead running smoothly and efficiently. At the end of this proverb, after all that she has done has been recognized, the author says, “but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.”
Work on a homestead never ends
There will always be more that you can do for your home, especially for a mother and wife. But through the author of this proverb, we can see that those tasks and jobs are virtuous and important. All of the effort and time you put into your homestead, all of the preparations you do for your family; it is all worthy and something to be praised, according to God’s divine word.
How to be a Proverbs 31 wife today
One of the main ways to continue to stay motivated, to stay encouraged to serve your family, is to remember that through every task you do for them, you are praising the Lord. God sees your efforts, your late nights, your hard work. He knows your sacrifices. Remind yourself that they are for Him, even on days when you feel as if no one notices. He does, and He is the one who we should all strive to please.
When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
Deuteronomy 8:10
The Lord is provider of all
Through this verse, we are reminded that we need to show gratitude to God for our good fortune. It is through Him and His divine plan that we are able to live a life off the land at all, and for that, we should forever be grateful.
Gratitude can change your life.
The bible tells us through this verse to be grateful for what we have. If you’re working on learning how to add more gratitude into your life, click here.
After sending them home, Jesus went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.
Matthew 14:23
When Jesus is overwhelmed and needs time to think, where is it that he goes? Often, he runs back to nature, to be alone with her, to regain his thoughts and composure.
Jesus, the human form of God, chooses nature
There is a lot to learn from Jesus, our Lord in human form. One of the biggest affirmation that a life in nature is a life of peace and purpose, is Jesus’s actions to return to nature to find himself once again. When Jesus was faced with his impending crucifixion, as he struggled deeply with what was to become his fate, he went into an olive grove called Gethsemane to pray alone.
Why does Jesus choose nature?
The fact that Jesus chooses nature during his times of struggle can help teach us where we can go during our struggles too. By choosing nature as a place of refuge to pray in isolation, Jesus is able to be fully present with God, away from distractions and away from others. Nature is his place to fully connect to God and speak with him.
How can we use this wisdom in our homesteading journeys?
We can apply this verse to our own lives in very practical ways. When you’re looking for ways to connect deeply to God:
- Go to work in the garden. Focus on the task at hand and allow your mind to speak openly and freely to God. If you’d rather not speak, leave your mind open to be able to hear the messages God wants you to hear.
- Find a place in nature that you can go as a retreat. Where can you go to sit, be still, and be away from the noise of the world? Find a place that will let you focus in on the music of Mother Nature. Focus in on the sounds you hear, the sights you see, and give yourself over to being fully present.
Final Thoughts
There are so many biblical teachings that point back to the simple lifestyle found on a homestead. This makes a lot of sense because God teaches us that our focus should be on Him and living out His word more than it should be on fulfilling our own selfish desires. Today’s modern world does not echo God’s message about how we should live in many ways. Retreating to a homestead to live a quiet, humble life, connecting to nature, and serving God can create a peaceful life that nothing in this world could ever buy.
Pin this Post!
I put a lot of time putting this post together for you, and it would mean a lot if you’d pin it so that it can be shared with others, too.
Searching for more simple homestead life?
Learn how you can change your life with gratitude
Find even more posts on simple living here.
What are your favorite bible verses to encourage your homesteading journey?
We need to separate ourselves from the ways of the world and focus on what YHWH considers important which is to live a holy and righteous life and to be obedient to Him. God wants us all to have our own property and to work hard to provide for ourselves and our families and to give to others who are in need. When we focus on these things, we don’t have time for the useless things in life. When we live in accordance with God’s will, we will have peace and contentment in our lives.
Absolutely! Well said, Janna! Thank you for stopping by.
Thank you for this article. I am a born again Christian who yearns to live off the land. I am a low income single mom. Please pray that God will provide that for myself and my child.
Wishing you all the best!
Beautifully written and so helpful
I’m so glad you found it useful!
Absolutely loved this post!!
Such a great post!! Thank you!