What kind of wife are you?

    ¹⁰An excellent wife, who can find?
         For her worth is far above rubies.
    ¹¹The heart of her husband trusts in her,
         And he will have no lack of gain.
    ¹²She does him good and not evil
         All the days of her life.
    ¹³She looks for wool and flax
         And works with her hands in delight.
    ¹⁴She is like merchant ships;
         She brings her food from afar.
    ¹⁵She rises also while it is still night
         And gives food to her household
         And portions to her maidens.
    ¹⁶She considers a field and buys it;
         From her earnings she plants a vineyard.
    ¹⁷She girds herself with strength
         And makes her arms strong.
    ¹⁸She senses that her gain is good;
         Her lamp does not go out at night.
    ¹⁹She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
         And her hands grasp the spindle.
    ²⁰She extends her hand to the poor,
         And she stretches out her hands to the needy.
    ²¹She is not afraid of the snow for her household,
         For all her household are clothed with scarlet.
    ²²She makes coverings for herself;
         Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
    ²³Her husband is known in the gates,
         When he sits among the elders of the land.
    ²⁴She makes linen garments and sells them,
         And supplies belts to the tradesmen.
    ²⁵Strength and dignity are her clothing,
         And she smiles at the future.
    ²⁶She opens her mouth in wisdom,
         And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
    ²⁷She looks well to the ways of her household,
         And does not eat the bread of idleness.
    ²⁸Her children rise up and bless her;
         Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:
    ²⁹"Many daughters have done nobly,
         But you excel them all."
    ³⁰Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,
         But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
    ³¹Give her the product of her hands,
         And let her works praise her in the gates.  Proverbs 31:10-31


What kind of a woman does our society honor?

She would work at a job, build her own career, demand and get equal pay with men. She would refuse to submit to her husband, demanding equality with him in everything. She would not want her husband or children to threaten her personal goals. She would have her own bank account. She would hire a maid or cleaning service. She would eat out at least 50 percent of the time with her family or without. She would make cold cereal and coffee the standard breakfast fare for the family and quick-frozen meals usual dinner fare, and she would certainly expect her husband to do half the housework.  She is miles away from the woman in Proverbs 31. Is this the kind of wife God wants us to be?

Earlier on in the book of Proverbs young men are warned against the wrong kind of woman, the adulteress who flatters with her lips, the adulteress who forsakes her own husband, breaks covenant and entertains a union with someone else, the adulteress whose lips drip honey but who brings about death and destruction, the smooth-tongued adulteress who hunts for the precious life to make him her prey. Proverbs warns against the noisy woman, the quarrelsome woman, the rebellious woman, the foolish woman. And the sons of Israel were to be warned to stay away from and avoid all such women.

But, in Proverbs 31 it talks about "The excellent wife"  Her character as a wife, her devotion as a homemaker, her generosity as a neighbor, her influence as a teacher, her effectiveness as a mother and her excellence as a person...the sum of all of that makes the excellent wife.  She loves her husband and children, feeds her family, brings honor to her husband, she is frugal, selfless, wise, giving, a good homemaker, and she is not lazy.  Her husband trusts in her as she does no harm to him all the days of her life.  Does your husband praise you?

What are you trying to accomplish as a wife?  What kind of wife are you?