How To Praise A Woman Series

HOW TO PRAISE A WOMAN

A BREAKDOWN ON PROVERBS 31: LEARNING HOW TO COMMUNICATE LOVE & APPRECIATION

INTRO: There are a lot of possible introductions, the one I will use for this lesson will be about REVOLVE which just happened the night before. But a personal story of how a “Proverbs 31” woman impacted your life would be ideal.

BIBLE VERSE: Proverbs 31:10-31 (English Standard Version)

An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household for all her household are clothed in scarlet. She makes bed coverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant. Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Giver her the fruit of her hands and let her works praise her in the gates.

12 WAYS TO PRAISE: # 1-6

1. Proverbs 31:11 The heart of her husband trusts in her.

The Trait: Trustworthy

Illustration: People date each other, but end up wanting to change each other. Allow me to explain by reading out of this book “Men Are Like Waffles, Women Are Like Spaghetti.”

(Read pages 17-19). This book lists a couple of different scientific facts about how men and women are different.

What TO do: Understand that significant differences between the two sexes. This means that how people react to situations does vary greatly depending on the gender.

The Compliment: It’s simple: accept the differences!

2. Proverbs 31:12 She does good and not harm all the days of her life.

The Trait: Companionship

Illustration: Wild At Heart

In the book titled Wild At Heart written by John Eldredge, he says that in the heart of the man there are three great desires: “a desperate desire for a battle to fight, and adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue.” He says “I want you to think of the films men love, the things they do in their free time, and especially the aspiration of little boys and see if I am not right on this.”

And you know what, somehow women intrinsically know this. That is why a teen girl who plays soccer for her team, works 30 hours a week at Ruby Tuesday, and babysits her younger sister still somehow manages to find time to watch her boyfriend’s hockey game at 10:30pm on a Tuesday. She for some reason knows that this sense of competitive adventure exists, and supports her man in doing so.

What NOT to do: Take this for granted. Is it fair that the woman is expected to sit through a 3 hour football game in the rain while the guy plays video games with his friends while she is playing softball? No way. It’s not fair, and it is not equal treatment.

The Compliment: The compliment is obvious…go to their things. Do what is important to them. Learn why their hobbies are exciting. And this goes far beyond a compliment, this is what should be done to build a tightly formed relationship.

3. Proverbs 31:13 She seeks wool and flax, she works with her hands.

The Trait: Hard Working

Illustration: I know that today’s youth get blamed for all the problems in society. And there’s a lot of names given to that. And though there are a ton of things that are odd, one thing that cannot be accused of this generation is being lazy. The majority of youth I see go to school full time, job full time, sports full time, pay their own insurance, split time at two families, and on and on.