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 24 here.

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Proverb31:25

She is clothed with strength and dignity,
and she laughs without fear of the future.

Character Traits:
clothed with strength and dignity, prepared

Character Trait:

When I see the phrase ‘clothed with strength and dignity,’ several women I know pop to mind, all of whom shine with an inner strength and dignity.

Definition:
--the quality or state of being worthy, honored, or respected; a look or way of behaving that suggests seriousness and self-control

Verses in the Bible about it:
1 Corinthians 13:1-8

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!

Galatians 5:22-23

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Romans 5:3-5

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. ⁵ And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

1 Timothy 2:9

And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes.

Summary:

Dignity can encompass a whole slew of character traits but I think the Corinthians verse probably sums it up pretty well. Every woman I know who would fall into this category (of being ‘clothed with strength and dignity) has an underlying love for others that dictates what she does and how she behaves.

Conclusion for this verse:
I skipped going over the part about being prepared for the future because I think so many of the previous verses have addressed this very thing so well. The first part of this verse is a summary of many of the character traits too. Her modest, her care for others, her skill both in and out of the home, her attention to the details, her organization and preparation – all of that speaks to me of a woman who is self-controlled and serious yet she ‘laughs’ because she doesn’t have to worry thanks to her forethought. I really want to meet this woman. I want to spend a week or two with her, learning from her.

Comments:
I would like very much to be thought of as being ‘clothed with strength and dignity’ by others. I’d like to think that I am on the path to that. But I think I need to develop that love for others that would be it’s foundation. It’s very easy to love those you know or who have some kind of connection to you. I want to love those who don’t. I want my knee jerk reaction to a smelly, homeless person to be compassion, not wrinkling my nose and stepping to the other side like the holier than thou people in the story of the good Samaritan. I need to ask God to help me develop a love like His. I need to ask that He fill me with it so that it can’t help but overflow onto others.