Being a Proverbs 31 Wife Part 2

Welcome back to the Being a Proverbs 31 Wife series part 2. This week I am doing the same as last week and breaking down the Proverbs by section and explaining it.

²² She makes her own bedspreads.
    She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns.
²³ Her husband is well known at the city gates,
    where he sits with the other civic leaders.
²⁴ She makes belted linen garments
    and sashes to sell to the merchants.

   This reiterates the business side of the wife; she makes and sells things to the merchants. She knows that her worth is more than just in the home she can bring income into the household as well. Her husband is known and serves in the city, her reputation also rubs on to him because of the high standards that she sets in her life. The reference to her linens shows that she respects her outward appearance, purple is also a color of royalty and can be seen as even more a reference to a respect and dignity that she upholds.

   This sounds a little trickier to live out, your husband is probably not a leader in your community, maybe in your church though he is well known, and you probably don’t make garments to sell. But that does not mean you can’t learn from this section. You know that you are worth more than just what you are doing at home, you contribute in any way even small ways to the household. Your husband can be influenced by the acts you do and the influence you have in your community, so make sure that what you do is positive, reflects God and is for the greater good. Also the reference to her appearance is only the beginning for this verse, but she respects herself to have a good appearance with nice clothes and doesn’t walk around in sweats and messy hair all the time.

²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity,
    and she laughs without fear of the future.
²⁶ When she speaks, her words are wise,
    and she gives instructions with kindness.
²⁷ She carefully watches everything in her household
    and suffers nothing from laziness.

   The Proverbs 31 wife is wise of ways of the world, she is strong and knows that the future will be ok. She speaks kindly to others and helps them. She knows what is happening in her house and is not idle. Her greatest strength is that she is wise and she speaks of wisdom from the Lord.

   Living this out is open to interpurtation but what I see is that a woman needs to be aware of what is going on around her and in the world. She needs to be educated so that she can help and teach others. The big thing here is that she is not lazy, my favorite version of this says “does not eat from the bread of idleness”  I try to live this out by not sitting around all day and being productive. Even if its cleaning, organizing, crafting, cooking, blogging, anything other then just sitting and watching tv because that is being lazy there are things that can be done. Now I will say this is my biggest problem I have to fight the urge to sit around quite often.

²⁸ Her children stand and bless her.
    Her husband praises her:
²⁹ “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world,
    but you surpass them all!”

   She is loved and praised by her family. She recognizes the influence she has on her family and uses it for good.

   Living this out is simple in words but will look different in each family. Using the influence you have on your children and husband to help lead them in a positive way. Depending on the gifts God has given you this could look like showing examples while volunteering and helping others, or showing how to use talents in a way that glorifies God.

³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last;
    but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.
³¹ Reward her for all she has done.
    Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.

   This in my opinion is just a great closing to the Proverbs. Fear of the Lord will remain after charm and beauty are gone and is one of the greatest qualities of a Woman.

   Overall this “wife is a fierce provider and protector for those she cares about. She is wise to the ways of the world, but lives by the wisdom of God. As in the rest of the Proverbs, these specific examples provide a metaphor for the larger truth. How any individual woman exemplifies these characteristics will depend on her situation, gifts, and abilities.” ¹

   I hope you enjoyed these two post, I enjoyed writing them and getting a chance to look at what I was doing as a wife to try and be more like the wife described here.  I look forward to writing a couple more post about the Proverbs 31 Wife including some insights of other post that can be found around the web.

   I hope this gives you something to think about as a wife and how you are doing what God would consider as virtuous.  Did you see anything here that caught your eye and your heart on what may need to be worked on in your life, I know it did for me. I would love to hear feedback and your thoughts in the comments.