First, let me say, sometimes women can get kind of bitter about all the things other women do well. Let me encourage you to not look at the following passage and think, "Ugh! This woman is perfect! I hate her!" Ha! We all do it! Instead, let us praise God for the women in our lives that show us how to fear God!! Let us put aside our pride and ask for advice from them! Let us praise them!
Looking at Proverbs 31:11-16 I have compiled a list of characteristics of a woman who fears the Lord. I will tackle verses 17-31 in the next three parts, five verses at a time. Now, it's important that we realize these are characteristics of a woman that already fears the Lord, not characteristics you must do in order to fear the Lord. They are symptoms of a woman who has been given the Holy Spirit and a new heart and, there for, new desires. An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. 11 The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. 12 She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. 13 She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. 14 She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. 15 She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. 16 She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. Characteristics: willing worker, trustworthy, plans ahead, and active in business Verse 11: She is trustworthy. And not only is she trustworthy in general, she is trustworthy to her husband! Can we just admit that our husbands no the worst about us. For a man to say, "My heart trusts in her!" is big! And not just fidelity issues (which are important, mind you!) but the little things too! Does your husband ask you to do something and then just know you will do it? This should be a goal for us as women after God's own heart! Also, her husband has no lack of gain. In other translations it says "he does not lack anything good" or "he doesn't lack provisions". Basically this means that our husbands should not be in want. He should be content with the provisions we lay before him! Verse 12: Does him good ALL the days of her life. I like this verse. One reason is because I failed at it so magnificently. Notice this verse does not say to do him good all the days of their marriage. It says all the days of her LIFE! If you're getting prideful and bitter you might say, "that is impossible!!" and you would be right. Whom do we know that honored their spouse all the days of their life??? Jesus! Jesus honored His future spouse (the church) all the days of His life. Meanwhile, his future spouse whored itself and killed him. (Next time you wanna label your husband as the worst, remember that!) Now back to the practical practice of doing good to our husbands all the day of our lives. How does that work? If you are already married, it means honoring him when he is not around. It means that when your friends who are still learning how to honor their husband start to get in a "My husband is the worst" contest you stand up and refuse to be involved. Even if he doesn't see it, you honor him, you do him good! If does not do you good, you still do him good! If you have a daughter, it means that you start teaching that child how to honor her future husband right now! All the days of her life! Just because it's impossible does not mean we stop trying. Our daughters are only 9 and 6 and we have already dealt with this repeatedly! Conversations like, "We will not say 'I am in love with so and so' because that is not doing your future husband good." or "We will not act flirty with boys because that does not honor your future husband." or "We treat our friends that are boys as brothers in Christ because that does our future husbands good!!" are common in our home. I know some think this is silly and over the top. Robert and I disagree with you. : ) Verse 13: She works willingly! I did not work willingly when I was on the internet all the time! I looked at my work as an inconvenience and a distraction to what I really wanted to do! Wrong, wrong. I should work for the family willingly. Without sighing or dragging my feet either! Ouch. Verse 14: From what I understand this has to do with a woman planning ahead for food. For instance, back in this time it meant that there were some foods that weren't readily on hand, they needed to be ordered from afar. And this woman who fears the Lord is on top of that! She doesn't invite company over and forget to get all the supplies needed to feed them! For us, this would look like knowing what is in the pantry! We order some things in bulk and I need to stay on top of when we are running low on those big things because it takes a week or two to get them in the mail! Also, I think this goes back to the husband trusting her and not lacking. Verse 15: She rises first and prepares food for her whole family and her maidens. When I have a plan and prepare things ahead of time, life is so much easier and calm. Wouldn't it be lovely if we always prepared just a little extra so that we can share if we need to? So that we can invite someone over to eat with us after church? Or if we had a meal frozen waiting for a family in need? Verse 16: She considers first. She is thoughtful and not impulsive about what she spends her money on. When she decides that it is a good investment, she buys the field. Which also means that she is wise about financial issues! Not clueless about the dealings of the outside world. And then she uses her investment to further the family with a vineyard! This is a woman that is looking out for her family in all ways and that is fearing the Lord and honoring the gifts He has given her.
1 Comment
Lynn Reed
11/15/2017 09:43:53 am
We read that portion of the Bible every Sabbath at the dinner table with our guests. My husband reads that portion and then I read a different portion. We find it very sacred. And afterwords my husband would bless the children. He has them stand beside him and he puts his hand on her head and repeats a special prayer or them and then we continue with our meal after we like the Sabbath candles. We then break the bread that I have baked and the dinner follows oh I forgot we also go around the table and we ask everyone to say something that's their grateful for that week basically you know what's going on with them that they want to share. I just wanted you to have an idea what you're Jewish friends do. I find it very comforting to know that you carry on this tradition and your family because it is a very very sacred part of blessing our families and our food and one another. Oh and I forgot we also have wine that my husband forced into his class that he says some prayers and then he gives everybody a little bit of that wine and their cup which of course I can add to but that something that he has shared his blessing for them to drink I don't know what you think about all that ... but it might be something you like to incorporate into your weekly ritual's. I'm so happy for you Lindsey, you are a very lovely woman. I wish you every blessing from HaShem.
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