Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is worth more than precious rubies. Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life. She will not hinder him but help him all her life. I can’t think of a woman who does not want to be known as virtuous and capable, or to be thought of as precious and trustworthy by her husband. Most of us get married with the hope of being wonderful wives to our husbands. We put a lot of emphasis on our cooking and cleaning, on how we decorate our homes wanting to make it a warm and welcoming environment for our husband and guests. These things are important, and they are a part of what makes us excellent wives, but there is a greater component- a more necessary piece to the excellent wife. The woman who has determined to glorify God by how she lives her life makes the most excellent wife. She is righteous, honorable, moral, and honest or strives to be in her heart because she knows it glorifies God! This passage begins in the most appropriate place- in the heart. When a woman’s heart is focused on bringing God glory, her thoughts are not about herself. Her thoughts are “other” oriented and she derives joy from seeing the benefits her life of selflessness brings to others. She is also not focused on the people she is serving. They reap the benefits, but they are a secondary focus of Who she is actually serving. This woman’s thoughts are centered on Christ and her actions in the home and marriage are for Him first and others second. The following verses Proverbs 31:13-24 are the actions of marriage, they are the outpouring of the heart. And in the heart and life of a woman who is focused on glorifying God by how she lives her life they are a joy. She finds wool and flax and busily spins it. She is like a merchant’s ship; she brings her food from afar. She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day’s work for her servant girls. She goes out to inspect a field and buys it; with her earnings she plants a vineyard.She is energetic and strong, a hard worker. She watches for bargains; her lights burn late into the night. Her hands are busy spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber.She has no fear of winter for her household because all of them have warm clothes. She quilts her own bedspreads. She dresses like royalty in gowns of finest cloth. These verses are the details of her life of service. Simply put, she is in charge of her home and her home has great meaning to her. The physical structure of her home is a reflection of the love and concern she has for her family. Now I am well aware that we live in a time where many moms and wives work outside the home. Many are guilt ridden because of these verses, and have asked me and other wiser women than I if they are wrong, or violating Scripture by working. Titus 2 does tell us to be keepers at home. Can’t change what the Bible says, can’t mince the words. But there is a difference in heart of a woman who wants to work for the things of the world, and women who work because they have to help support the family. We are unfortunately in a financial climate where many husbands do not have high paying jobs, or health insurance for their families. We are also living in a time where everything is so expensive that households may need 2 incomes to survive. I am also aware that many Christian homes are anything but the model picture of the reflection of love and concern a woman has for her family. I have often heard it said that this wife has servants who help her with her chores as though her life was so much easier than ours. We all know that is just silly. The life of a woman in Solomon’s time was much more difficult and grueling and unpleasant than ours. Just the modern conveniences alone and the ease in which we can prepare a meal for our families blows that out of the water.

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