The Home as God Intended
Part 8 – Godly Wives
First Baptist Church of Tawas City Michigan
Rev. Bruce A. Shields
www.TawasBaptist.org
Welcome
Proverbs 31:10-31
10 [c] A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.11 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. 12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. 13 She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.15 She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.16 She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.17 She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.18 She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night. 19 In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.20 She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.22 She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.23 Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.24 She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes. 25 She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.27 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29 "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." 30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. 31 Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
Prayer
We see wives who are building their households, serving their families and ensuring their obedience to the Lord.
We see mothers who work outside of the home and in.
This chapter in Proverbs is usually used on Mother’s Day, because it causes us to appreciate our own mothers and to urge young women to develop the noble qualities described here.
Although I was not raised in a Christian home, I still recall some of the lessons my mother taught me as a child.
My mother taught me RELIGION:
When I spilled grape juice on the carpet, she instructed, "You better pray the stain will come out of the carpet."
Of course I’m sure that having me for a child taught her a few things as well.
She learned that when you are in another room, and you hear the toilet flush with the words, “oh, no” immediately following, you have learned that it is already too late.
She learned from letting me make my own breakfast that eggs need to be removed from the shell before cooking them in a microwave.
She learned that the Flint Township Fire Department had a twelve minute response time.
She learned from leaving us teenagers alone for the weekend that no matter how high you turn the dryer, it will only rotate a few times with your younger brother in it.
And I’m sure there’s plenty more I’m not remembering or have not admitted to yet.
We see here in proverbs a wife of noble character.
These verses give a beautiful picture of the marriage relationship.
God wants husbands and wives to enjoy a relationship infused with trust, sharing everything, transparent honesty, and the giving and receiving of good will throughout all their days.
Unfortunately, all marriages don’t look that way. But that doesn’t mean marriage as an institution is flawed. It just means that Satan does all he can to drive a wedge between husbands and wives. Satan likes nothing more than to pervert the relationship God wanted for a man and his wife.
In this same way, a marriage reflects our relationship as a church with Jesus. We are his bride.
God had a plan from the beginning for fellowship between Jesus Christ and the church.
Our connection and relationship to Christ is to be so close that we are called His bride.
Looking again at verses 11 & 12, her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
This is the kind of wife who deserved complete trust because she was a woman of INTEGRITY. Her husband could put his full confidence in her.
So Proverbs 31:10-12 shows us her integrity.
She brings him good, not harm…
Remember this definition applies not just to our wives, but to the church who is Christ’s bride.
A few years back we had a person here at the church with an acid tongue.
They were known for their constant complaining about everything, but especially about people in the church.
They were continually stirring up arguments among the church members.
They had come from another church to ours, and have left ours to go to yet another church.
I still remember what someone had said to me once about this person, “This person is literally undoing everything we are trying to accomplish here.”
God have mercy on us when we act in this manner.
God forbid this church from becoming that kind of bride.
But the sad truth is that some church members do Christ harm, not good.
They literally undo the things Jesus is trying to accomplish through His church. How?
Usually just like the person, with their mouths.
Proverbs 18:21
”The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
We harm the reputation of Jesus Christ every time we gossip and complain.
Don’t get me wrong, there is always plenty to complain about…in life and in the church.
Things are not perfect, and we should always strive to do better.
But grumbling and criticizing, nit picking, and whining are not on the list of noble qualities in Proverbs 31!
I have seen people who profess to belong to the body of Christ shame the good name of Christ by what they do and what they say.
When we live our lives without integrity, we cause Jesus to be a laughingstock and an object of ridicule.
People who live that way are living a lie.
Just imagine the bride who continues to go out on dates with other men.
She gets married, but continues to spend nights out with her husband’s enemies.
This is what we do when we claim to belong to Christ, yet live like we belong to the world.
It’s no wonder on that great day of judgment Jesus says in;
Matthew 7:22-24
“22Many will say to me on that day, ’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ’I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
You can bet from the description that these people’s names are on the church membership rolls.
But unfortunately, that is not one of the books Christ will be opening on the last day.
These are people who claim to belong to Him, but never actually had a relationship with Him.
Do you honor the Lord by how you live and talk?
We also see in Proverbs that the noble wife not only had integrity, she was also industrious.
We see this in Proverbs 31:13-19.
She is not a domestic goddess sitting around on a couch eating bonbons and watching soap operas all day.
She is a whirlwind of activities, industrious in so many ways, and all for the sake of her household.
She took care of business in the home and out, dealing in real estate, finding deals at market, making clothing and crafts…anything it took to fill the needs of her family.
Here we see a woman who sees a need in her family, and addresses that need.
This is a good scripture for those who don’t believe God wants a woman to work outside of the home, because this one did, or deal in matters such as real estate, because this one did, or making purchases for the household other than groceries, because this one did, and she did it all, according to the scriptures, without a mans help.
God has created women to fulfill this obligation to the household! Whatever need she sees, she addresses.
The wife IS CAPABLE!
We also see that she is inclusive.
In Proverbs 31:20, She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.
I believe that this is one of the most important qualities of the noble woman of integrity.
Not only does she provide for her own family, but she opened her compassion to those beyond the walls of her home. Her energy and creativity were not lost on the poor and needy.
This reflects on us as the bride of Christ as well, all of us as the body of Christ.
Do we open our arms to the poor and needy?
I think of a woman in the Bible named Dorcas who was that kind of woman.
Now with a name like that, you would expect her to be harsh and cold. I sure she caught a lot of heat and ridicule, but the name actually comes from a Greek word meaning “Gazelle”.
This was a woman of means who became a Christian.
Dorcas (you never get tired of saying her name, in some Bibles it has been translated to Tabitha but I prefer Dorcas) was much loved for her acts of charity in Joppa.
In addition to giving money to the needy, she sewed clothes for the poor.
When she died suddenly, the member of her congregation sent an urgent appeal to Peter in nearby Lydda.
The story can be found in Acts 9:36-41.
When we die, will we be remembered with such love because of our kindness and service in the name of the Lord?
We read in Proverbs 31:21-29 that the noble wife is influential.
This woman lived her life in such a way, that her husband was respected in the community because of her.
She set the tone in her home that blessed everyone connected to her.
When the man walked down the street, they said “There goes a lucky man!”
The whole community noticed it and it brought honor to her husband.
And finally, we see that the Proverbs woman KNEW her identity.
Proverbs 31:30-31
“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”
This woman strength was not in her “own attributes” but in the Lord.
She did not lose sight of her worth and identity in Christ.
She depended completely on Jesus Christ.
She rests trustingly in His shadow.
This is a beautiful picture of a woman whose charm is in her service, and whose beauty will never fade because she follows Christ and has earned her rewards through her good works which bring her and her husband praise at the city gate.
INVITATION
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