I always hear woman say they want to be a Godly woman, but do we actually mean that? Here is what the Bible says of Godly women:
- She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. (Proverbs 31:26)
- Are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. (Titus 2:3-5)
- Must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. (1 Timothy 3:11)
- Be a helper fit for him (Genesis 2:18)
- The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax and works with willing hands. (Proverbs 31:11-13)
- Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. (1 Peter 3:4)
- Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. (Proverbs 31:25)
- Wives be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. (1 Peter 3:1-2)
- The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down. (Proverbs 14:1)
- God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. (Psalm 46:5)
- Likewise, also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. (1 Timothy 2:9-10)
Let’s take a look at a quarrelsome woman:
- It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman. (Proverbs 21:19)
- It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. (Proverbs 21:9 and 25:24)
- And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil (2 Timothy 2:24)
- A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike. (Proverbs 27:15)
- The contentions of a wife are a constant dripping. (Proverbs 19:13)
- An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones. (Proverbs 12:4)
Now let’s look more closely at the Proverbs 31 Woman by verse:
10. She is more precious than rubies
11. Her husband can trust her and will greatly enrich his life. Brings him good not harm
15. She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household
16. With her earnings she plants a vineyard
17. She is energetic and strong, a hard worker
18. She makes sure her dealings are profitable, and her lamp burns late into the night
19. Her hands are busy spinning thread
20. She extends a helping hand to the poor
22. She makes her own bedspreads and dresses in linen and purple gowns
24. She makes belted linen garments and sashes to sell to the merchants
25. She is clothed with strength and dignity and laughs without fear of the future
26. When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instruction with kindness
27. She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness
Whew, that is a lot right there. I am ashamed to admit but I tend to err on the side of quarrelsome; petty, argumentative, wanting to be right.
I see a lot of single women post about what they expect in a man and how there are “not any good men out there”. Yes, there are some really childish boys out there but there are some really great godly men as well, but you have to be a godly enough woman to attract those kinds of men. Unfortunately, we have a lot of unbiblical women trying to attract Biblical men. That is not how it works.
Women, we are the worst. We keep our friends close but our enemies closer. We will invite you to eat at our table but the moment you walk away we will talk about you. We live in “female dog” culture. It is now praised to be a “female dog” and a mouthy woman. Now, I’m not saying we cannot stand up for ourselves but there is a difference between standing up for something and just being an outright “female dog”.
The Bible says we are to tame the tongue (James 3). We are to have a gentle and quiet spirit. I truly believe we can say more with our silence than we can with our mouth. Even a fool is considered wise when he keeps his mouth shut (Proverbs 17:28).
The Proverbs 31 woman is not lazy. She is up before her children and is one of the last to fall asleep. She takes care of herself and her household. Now it doesn’t say her house is the tidiest in the neighborhood or that her kids have Pinterest worthy projects, but her children are feed and clothed. They feel loved. She makes her husband look good. She is trustworthy. She doesn’t slander other women. She is not the town gossip… ouch, I am guilty of this! She dresses not to bring attention to herself. It does not say she cannot look nice, but she dresses appropriately. She practices self-control in all that she does including with her mouth. She speaks wisdom.
The Proverbs 31 woman seems dauntingly unattainable but If we set our sights on the Lord then the Holy Spirit will start to work in us. He makes the impossible, possible. The world wants us to be the exact opposite of a Proverbs 31 woman. She doesn’t make for a good Housewives reality TV show.
Do we really mean what we say? Do we really want to be a Proverbs 31 woman? Women, we have some work to do. Let’s stop letting the world tell us what we need to be.
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. (Proverbs 31:30)
From the PK's Pew 