Virtuous Woman
Good Morning,
Proverbs 31 speaks of a virtuous woman. The title “virtuous woman” is not a specific lady, but a type of lady, like a great athlete, builder or statesman; this type of lady is different from others.
This lady is careful enough with money that her husband does not have to feel the pressure of making more money through his career (no need of spoil). This lady sewed and sold the things she made. She bought land, planted crops, and sold them. She found ways to supplement her husband's income.
There is much more about this lady that made her value far above rubies, but the characteristic I would like to point out is her focus on home over career.
We became acquainted with a neighbor, but our relationship was only for a short time because she moved away soon after we moved into our home. She was a sergeant in the highway patrol. She made a point to tell us that as a lady, obtaining her rank was a lot of work, a lot of fighting, and a lot of labor. She had a cute little dog, but no husband or children.
The difference between the average career woman and the virtuous woman is that one focuses her attention and her time on a home, while the other focuses on a career. I have met several ladies who had career positions who were very good at their jobs. These were ladies who could help you in their area of expertise. I have met lady lawyers, educators, business managers, and even a bulldozer operator. In my opinion, which is obviously only one in 7 billion, these ladies had several things in common.
1. They had only one child; sometimes none or once on a rare occasion two, but never more.
2. They had lost their marriages, but kept their careers (not in every case, but in most).
3. They were determined to be known as a success in their career world. Those who were still married spoke little of their marriage, if any.
4. They were determined to be just as good as any man.
Their success was measured by their job performance, not by their marriage and children.
5. Rarely did their children arise in conversation, not even as often as their dogs, which most of them had.
6. They were not bad ladies; they were usually enjoyable to be around, but they had a totally different perspective on life. A perspective vastly different from the virtuous woman about whom God writes.
In Proverbs 31, the Scripture says that this lady’s husband was known in the gates. “The gates” was a place where local business took place. It was a place of politics, business, and a courtroom. This lady was so successful in her marriage and child training that her husband was elevated in his community, not herself. (She would not have had her name on a political poster, running for office.)
At the end of Proverbs 31, it says that this lady’s husband and children will rise up and praise her at the end of her life. Our current culture has pressured many good ladies into a world in which a career is vital. Their career becomes the focal point of every waking hour; so much, that when they are old, they find themselves alone (except for their dog).
I realize some ladies never marry; God does not have that work for them. (They are certainly in a different category than what I am referring to.) For the average lady, the apostle Paul said that these younger women should: marry, bear children, guide their homes, and give Satan no opportunity to speak ill of her or her home. (1 Timothy 5:14)
If you are bringing up little girls, do your best to keep them around mothers and ladies who love and lift up their husbands. If you are training boys, work to get them around men who love, provide, and protect their wives, and whose wives focus their attention on their husbands and children (a wife whose career is a sideline not a focus). As you raise your children, be sure to speak highly of those families, and never to reproach homes with many children.
Pastor