But Mothers are not perfect. Sometimes in their assessment of their child, they may be wrong. For example:
• A picture of George Washington’s head is on the front of every dollar bill. But when George was a child, his mother told him constantly, "Georgie you do not have a head for money."
• Charles Lindberg was the first man to fly across the Atlantic alone, but his mother often said to him, “Charles, can't you do anything by yourself?"
• Neil Armstrong's mother often said, "Neil has no more business taking flying lessons than the man in the moon."
Mothers can be wrong about some things when it comes to their child, but Mothers are noted for their love for their children.
Illus: The mother of one of our President’s was asked, “You must be proud of your son?” She said, “Which one?”
Illus: An eight-year-old wrote about mothers. He said, "A mother is a person who takes care of her kids and gets their meals, and if she's not there when you get home from school, you wouldn't know how to get your dinner and you wouldn't feel like eating anyhow."
All the greatness that you see in the world today, can be traced back to Motherhood.
• This is why the devil is robbing the homes of our Mothers, and putting them into the work force. Why? Because he knows that if he can get the mothers out of the home, and place the children in front of the televisions sets, and let this Hollywood crowd raise their children, we will have the problems we are having today.
• Satan knows that if we allow our children to be taught about sex and morality in the public schools, by homosexuals and immoral people, we will have the problems we are having today.
In Proverbs 31 we are given a picture of what appears to be the perfect woman.
Illus: Years ago, Bo Derek the actress was known as a ten. That is, if you rated women with certain physical features from 1 to 10, she was classified as a ten.
But in Proverbs 31, God shows us what he considers to be the perfect woman.
Let’s look at-
I. HER ABILITIES
Look at verse 10. We read, “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.”
Look at the word “Virtuous.” This is the word “Chayil,” which means SUBSTANCE.
This is not an ordinary woman, this is a virtuous woman with substance.
For example, have you ever tried to find out the truth about something that has taken place, from some of these politicians? They can talk for ten to fifteen minutes, and when they are through talking, you still do not know any more than you did to start with. Why? Because, their conversation does not have any substance to it. They only speak empty, meaningless words.
The Lord is talking about a VIRTUOUS WOMAN. When she talks, she speaks with some substance.
A. SHE GAVE GOOD COUNSEL TO HER CHILDREN
Proverbs 31 was written to Lemuel, the king.
Since no king with the name of Lemuel can be found in the history books, some believe that this was written to Solomon. They feel that Lemuel was a pet name that Bathsheba had given to him as her child.
Since history does not record a king by the name of Lemuel, we are also going to assume that this was addressed to Solomon from his mother Bathsheba.
Look at some of the GOOD COUNSEL this godly mother gives to her son.
Look at verse 9. This mother says to the King, “Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.”
Notice, this mother does not tell Solomon, that he has a wonderful opportunity:
• To get rich
• To establish a legacy for himself that few men have ever done before
Instead, she is saying, “Lemuel, you have an opportunity to do so much good.”
Notice, she requested two things:
(1) SHE REQUESTED HE JUDGE RIGHTEOUSLY
She was saying, “Solomon, you are going to have to make many decisions in your life as king. And every time you make a decision, SEEK TO MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION.”
This was a virtuous woman, This could be the reason that when Solomon could have requested anything he wanted of God, he requested that God give him wisdom.
Solomon was a great king that had much wisdom to make the right decisions.
But again, I want to remind you that any time you find greatness, you can usually trace it back to a godly mother or grandmother.
This virtuous woman pleaded with him to judge righteously.
Also, in her counsel to him she requested that he-
(2) PLEAD THE CAUSE OF THE POOR AND NEEDY
So often the poor and the needy suffer because of those who are in high places.
Many times the reason the rich have so much, is because they have robbed the poor.
But this virtuous mother said, “Solomon, plead the cause of the poor and the needy.”
In this age, when it seems that the only thing people care about is: ENTERTAINMENT, BEAUTY PAGEANTS, SPORTS, AND GETTING WEALTHY, we need some mothers who have the ability to recognize that these things that many are pursuing have no eternal value to them whatsoever. NONE WHATSOEVER!
The VALUE SYSTEM in America has been destroyed.
• What is IMPORTANT, is not IMPORTANT
• And what is not IMPORTANT, is IMPORTANT.
Our children are wasting their lives chasing after petty things that do not amount to anything, because we as parents have not taught them what is important.
We need many more mothers like Lemuel’s. She knew what was important, and she taught her son what was important.
SHE GAVE GOOD COUNSEL TO HER CHILDREN.
B. SHE GAVE GREAT PRIDE TO HER HUSBAND
Look at verse 11-12, we read, “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.”
Look at several things in these two verses.
(1) “THE HEART OF HER HUSBAND DOTH SAFELY TRUST IN HER…”
Listen, he knows that he lives in a world where he cannot trust a lot of folks, but he takes pride in this virtuous woman knowing:
• He can trust her to be true to her marriage vows, even when he is not around.
• He can trust her with the check book, knowing she will only spend money on the family she loves.
He can trust her with everything he has, because she is a virtuous woman that will never disappoint him.
The Bible says he, “…doth safely trust in her…” There are a lot of things he does not feel safe about, but when it comes to this virtuous woman he married, he trusts in her.
(2) “SHE WILL DO HIM GOOD AND NOT EVIL ALL THE DAYS OF HER LIFE.”
He is sure that she is a virtuous woman, and he is thoroughly convinced that she will do him good ALL THE DAYS OF HER LIFE.
We have looked at her ABILITIES, but also look at-
II. HER ASSETS
Notice, this virtuous woman has many good qualities. We can see that in many ways in Proverbs 31.
It is evident that she loved her family.
For example, we see that SHE is WILLING TO WORK FOR HER FAMILY.
Look at verses 13-22, we read, “She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.”
Many of the things that we read about in these scriptures are there because she is using her hands to provide for them.
The old saying is still true, “A mother’s work is never done.”
Illus: This was seen on a church sign: If evolution is true, how come mothers still have only two hands? (Donna Waldeyer, Paoli, Pennsylvania, Christian Reader, "Lite Fare.")
Notice, she uses her hands to help her family.
Twice Proverbs 31 refers to her hands:
Look at verse 20, we read, “She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.”
She not only uses her hands to help her family, she also uses them to help the POOR and the NEEDY.
Illus: Dwight Eisenhower got angry as a child when growing up, because his brothers and sisters were going to go somewhere, but he couldn’t go. He went into a fit of rage, and went out and begin hitting a tree with his bare fist. He hit the tree so hard, that blood began to run out of his hands.
His father came out and disciplined him, and sent him to his room.
Later his mother came with some cream for his bruised hands. She took her loving hands, and put the cream on his hands. As she did, she began talking to him and teaching him about controlling his feelings.
He later said, “Of all the peace treaties I have been involved in, non compare to that which my mother and I had when she loved me so much that day.”
In verse 20, we read, “She stretcheth out her hand….”
• She stretched out her hands to help her family
• She stretched out her hands to help the needy
We looked at her abilities and her assets, but look at-
III. HER APPEARANCE
Look at verse 25. We read, “Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.”
Notice, that STRENGTH and HONOUR are her clothing. That is, when you look at this virtuous woman, what you see is a woman of STRENGTH and HONOUR.
• She does not go along with the crowd, she lives a life of STRENGTH and HONOR
• She does not allow the world to do her thinking for her, she is a woman of STRENGTH
Illus: Susan Shelley writes in Marriage Partnership, "I was thrilled when the doctor told me our baby-to-be was a boy. I decided to keep the news a secret because I wanted to see Marshall's face when our son was delivered.”
In the fifth month, our doctor recommended a Level II ultrasound. As I lay on the examining table, Dr. Silver manipulated the ultrasound, measuring the cranium and the femur and viewing the internal organs. We all watched the embryonic motions. “Is everything okay?” Marshall asked.
“Let me complete the examination, and I'll give you a full report,” the doctor said. I hoped his evasive answer was merely his standard procedure.
Moments later, Dr. Silver announced his observations in a matter-of-fact voice. “We have some problems. The fetus has a malformed heart--the aorta is attached incorrectly. There are missing portions of the cerebellum. A club foot. A cleft palate and perhaps a cleft lip. Possibly spina bifida. This is probably a case of Trisomy 13 or Trisomy 18. In either case, it is a condition incompatible with life.”
Neither Marshall nor I could say anything. So Dr. Silver continued.
“It's likely the fetus will spontaneously miscarry. If the child is born, it will not survive long outside the womb. You need to decide if you want to try and carry this pregnancy to term.”
We both knew what he was asking. My soul was shaken by the news, but I knew clearly what I was to do.
“God is the giver and taker of life,” I said. “If the only opportunity I have to know this child is in my womb, I don't want to cut that time short. If the only world he is to know is the womb, I want that world to be as safe as I can make it.”( Leadership, Vol. 17, no. 3)
Thank the Lord for the mothers who have the STRENGTH and HONOUR to face these difficult decisions, and think not of themselves, but of the children.
We hear so much today from these liberal mothers, who say, “No one has a right to tell me what I am going to do with my body. It is my choice!”
Well, they are wrong, God has that right!
Abortion is not about the MOTHER, it is about the killing of a helpless baby that can’t do one thing to defend itself.
When a woman becomes pregnant with a child, God has entrusted her to carry that child in her womb.
She needs to ask the Lord for STRENGTH to do the HONOURABLE thing that God has entrusted to her to do.
Conclusion:
Now we come to the close of this chapter that deals with a virtuous woman. Look at verse 28. “Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.”
That is exactly what we have come here to do today. We praise all the virtuous mothers across the world today.
Everything we are, we owe to them!
I. HER ABILITIES
II. HER ASSETS
III. HER APPEARANCE
