Does a husband have to take care of children in a marriage who are not his?<\/p>\n\t
When you marry a woman who has children from a prior marriage, you are accepting responsibility for those children. “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever<\/em>” (I Timothy 5:8). The use of the word “household” is pertinent to this discussion. It doesn’t refer to just a person’s biological children. It includes all people living with him, including the servants.<\/p>\n We also find people raising the children of others in the Bible. “And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother<\/em>” (Esther 2:7). It is a part of pure religion. “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world<\/em>” (James 1:27). “Visit” means more than stopping by for tea. It means to see to their welfare. To claim it is not your responsibility is to deny what God has said.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Does a husband have to take care of children in a marriage who are not his? Answer: When you marry a woman who has children from a prior marriage, you are accepting responsibility for those children. “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20,1028],"tags":[665,64,29,107],"class_list":["post-50346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","category-parenting","tag-child-rearing","tag-marriage","tag-parenting","tag-raising-children"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37222,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-is-responsible-for-a-child-born-out-of-wedlock\/","url_meta":{"origin":50346,"position":0},"title":"Who is responsible for a child born out of wedlock?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What if a guy has a child outside of his marriage with another woman? Is he still responsible, such as for child support? What if his wife knows but disapproves of the child growing up with their children? What if he has a child that he knows is his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33153,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-i-tell-my-children-the-truth-that-their-dad-and-i-had-sex-before-marriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":50346,"position":1},"title":"Do I tell my children the truth, that their dad and I had sex before marriage?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My husband and I are both Christians.\u00a0 However, we had sex before marriage (only with each other).\u00a0 I have been wondering what to tell my daughters if they ask me if we had sex before marriage.\u00a0 I am afraid if I tell them the truth, then they will think\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41732,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-right-for-husbands-to-stay-home-and-raise-the-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":50346,"position":2},"title":"Is it right for husbands to stay home and raise the children?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about providing for the family. I know that if you don't provide you are like the unbelievers, but what about stay-at-home dads who care for kids? I know is not easy taking care of a household: kids, laundry, etc. Do you think it is right\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92089,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-still-possible-to-raise-godly-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":50346,"position":3},"title":"Is It Still Possible to Raise Godly Children?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Darrell Smelser via\u00a0InLight Media Marriage is hard on its own. Parenting is a tough job in and of itself. However, with the world being so divided and complex, cultivating a godly family feels even more challenging these days. How do we navigate the various challenges that come with parenting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Parenting"","block_context":{"text":"Parenting","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36673,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-does-the-woman-have-to-run-the-household-and-look-after-the-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":50346,"position":4},"title":"Why does the woman have to run the household and look after the children?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've been wondering about men's rules, women's rules in marriage.\u00a0I know about the leadership thing and the submission thing.\u00a0I don't know what's the difference between women looking after children and men doing it; I mean, in a family, what's the difference between a mother and a father? Why does\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1494,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-an-elder-have-faithful-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":50346,"position":5},"title":"Must an elder have faithful children?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 19, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it necessary for an elder to have children faithful in the church? If yes, then how many? 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