Proverbs 31 Woman

Thinking back over my prayer journals, one thought comes up a lot. I want to be a better wife and mother. There is a description of a woman that begins in Proverbs 31:10 that is THE woman. I've decided to go through it one verse a week and look into what makes her tick. I can work on the same traits in my own life and maybe feel like I'm getting somewhere. Join me on Thursdays when I'll share this week's verse.
P.S. please forgive all the funky fonts -- blogger and word apparently do not get along. i try to fix it as I catch it but sometimes it jumps right back to the weird stuff.

See verse 22 here.

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Proverbs 31:23
Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

Character Traits:
While this verse is more about her husband, it still suggests something about her. She doesn’t do things that embarrass or shame him. Instead she shows him respect and, probably in large part because of the way she helps to run his home and treats him in public, he is respected by the others where they live.

Character Trait 1:

Respects her husband

Definition:
--high or special regard; expressions of regard or courtesy

Verses in the Bible about it:
Romans 12:10

Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

Philippians 2:3

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.,

1 Peter 2:17

Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect the king.

1 Peter 3:4-5

You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They trusted God and accepted the authority of their husbands.

Leviticus 19:32

“Stand up in the presence of the elderly, and show respect for the aged. Fear your God. I am the Lord.

Ephesians 5:22- 24

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Genesis 2:18

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”

1 Peter 3:1

In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over

Proverbs 12:4

A worthy wife is a crown for her husband,
but a disgraceful woman is like cancer in his bones.

Summary:

Pretty much every verse suggests the same thing. The husband is head of the home and wives should honor him as such. I don’t think it suggests that she is his slave, beaten or mistreated at his will (read in context, it is fairly clear since we are not often called to love slaves as our own bodies, etc.) but rather that she understands both his and her own responsibilities to God and family. Knowing that he will be called to account even more so for his leadership of the family, she tries her best to make his job as head easier and smoother.

Conclusion for this verse:
Even the little, minor things we do every day make an impression. We might not think so but others see them. Running a household well can be frustrating and hard but others see your efforts and know that you are a worthy partner. This man is respected at the city gate by the elders of the land. Certainly, that has much to do with his own character. There are men that have good wives but who are not people that we respect because of their character. Often, in those cases we feel pity for their wives. But we have words for men who are not respected in their own homes too – words that show just how we feel about the situation. How many men do we respect while also calling them something like ‘hen-pecked’ or worse?

Comments:
Ever since Hollywood has made men the designated jerks in all situations, I have noticed this more in people around me. You don’t have to flip many channels to find a father or husband figure being portrayed as stupid and bumbling. This is something that isn’t just on sitcoms either. Commercials and movies have jumped on the bandwagon too.

Although I have been guilty of complaining too, it is never okay to disrespect your spouse in public. He/she is your partner and, for better or worse, you signed up for life. Why anyone would want to deliberately undermine the intimacy of your marriage to get a laugh is beyond me. And if bolstering your self-esteem requires that you tear up someone else, regardless of who it is, you might want to take a closer look at yourself.

This verse has been a good reminder to me to watch how I speak and behave towards my own husband around others because disrespect can be expressed without words. Rolling my eyes or ignoring him can say volumes as well.

It is also a reminder to me that everything I do speaks to others, not just the stuff I think people see but every little thing. Making the effort to do a good job in our home makes a wave in our community that reflects on our lives both as a couple and as Christians.