Being A Proverbs 31 Woman
Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far
above rubies. The heart of her husband does safely
trust in her, so that he shall have no lack of gain. She
will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
She seeks wool, and flax, and works willingly with her
hands. She is like the merchants' ships; she brings her
food from afar. She rises also while it is yet night, and
gives food to her household, and a portion to her maid-
servants. She considers a field, and buys it: with the
fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She girds her
loins with strength, and strengthens her arms.
She perceives that her merchandise is good: her
lamp goes not out by night. She lays her hands to
the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. She
stretchs out her hand to the poor; yea, she reaches
forth her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of
the snow for her household: for all her household
are clothed with scarlet. She makes herself coverings
of tapestry; her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits
among the elders of the land. She makes fine linen,
and sells it; and delivers sashes unto the merchants.
Strength and honor are her clothing; and she shall
rejoice in time to come. She opens her mouth with
wisdom; and on her tongue is the law of kindness.
She looks well to the ways of her household, and
eats not the bread of idleness.
Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her
husband also, and he praises her. Many daughters
have done virtuously, but you excel them all. Charm
is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that
fears the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of
the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise
her in the gates. (Proverbs 31:10-31)
Are you like me? As I read the list of virtues of the Proverbs 31 woman, I feel very inferior, and so intimidated! How can I ever measure up to such a paragon?
This woman stays up late at night working with her hands, and then gets up before dawn,
feeding her household with foods she grows and cooks herself. She spins her own cloth and makes clothing for her household, for the needy, and for herself. She even makes such fine cloth that
she sells it and increases the houshold income. She's wise, and kind, and never idle.
Whew! I don't know about you, but I can't live up to that. I may be able to check off one or two of these, but as I look at this list, I know one thing: it sure doesn't describe me!
In the times that this was penned, women's roles were vastly different from what they are now. Very few of us are going to buy a field and plant a vineyard,
or spin and weave our own cloth and make our own clothing, much less make clothing for everyone else. While these were common things in Biblical times, they don't seem to apply
to our lives today, do they?
But as with every portion of Scripture, these words are in there for a reason, for us to learn from and live by.
So what lessons can we draw from these verses and apply to our own lives?
How can we live like a Proverbs 31 woman in this age?
We can note at least four attributes that this woman displayed, and copy them in our own lives.
Some of her most outstanding virtues are her committment, her conscientiousness, her consistancy, and her compassion. Let's look at each of these.
- Committment: First, we see that she is wholly devoted to her family. Her family is her number one priority, nothing else cames first. We can strive to have
that same kind of commitment in our lives. We've been made to feel that raising children is somehow less important than a "real job", that a career is much more important,
that we need more than a family to feel happy and fulfilled. But in reality, God created us to find our fulfillment and joy in
nurturing our families, and meeting their needs ahead of our own. Is it easy? Nope. But is it worth it? Absolutely! There is nothing in the world as worthwhile, and no other satisfaction as
great, as walking in the path the Lord created us for.
- Conscientiousness: She is not lazy; she knows what needs to be done and does it. She doesn't procrastinate, and doesn't just make a half-hearted effort.
It is so easy to let other things take our time and attention away from what we need to be doing. When we procrastinate, things pile up and become overwhelming.
Laziness affects not only us, but others around us as well. We have to determine to be
conscientious and put first things first, and do the job right the first time so we don't have to waste time doing it over or fixing our mistakes.
We must learn to use our time and resources wisely.
- Consistancy: Her faith and trust in God is strong; her life is totally dedicated to God. Everything reflects this: her speech, her actions, her manner of dress, her interactions
with her family and with others. We need to frequently check our own consistancy: do we always strive to honor God with our words and actions, with how we dress and how
we relate to others? It's easy to be fairly consistant in some areas but not others. It's easy to slip into complacency, rationalizations, and excuses.
We have to stay in constant communication with God to be able to be consistant in our lives. He speaks to us through His word, therefore
we must make it a daily practice to spend time in the Word.
- Compassion: She not only sees the needs of those around her, she freely gives to help meet those needs. This often requires some degree of discernment, as
not all needs are immediately obvious.
It also requires generosity, and an internal faith that when we bless others, God will bless us. We lose nothing by meeting the needs of those around us and being generous to those less fortunate..
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We will never be perfect, of course, but we can
try to live by these attributes every day. If we practice these four things in our lives, we don't have to feel like we don't measure up. We cannot do these things on our own, but by
the grace of God we CAN live up to the Proverbs 31 woman's example. As Phlippians 4:13 says:
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
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