Proverbs 31 Woman (P31W) - Part IV - OR - All About Clothes! (Proverbs 31:20-22).
20 and she helps the poor
and the needy.
It has always been a Christian calling to help the poor and needy. This verse has no mystery. The bible is full of exhortations to go and assist the poor. To clothe, feed and minister to them, and in doing so we are acting in service to Jesus Christ.
Do we always do this? No. We’ve all looked at homeless or poor people and thought “Why don’t they just get a job!?!?” Truth is we aren’t called to understand their life story, but just to help. We aren’t called to make sure they use it for food or getting back on track and not for booze or drugs. We’re called to help, and not just the literal poor and those in want of "things". The poor in spirit, poor in need of cash, poor in need of a hug, in need of a friend, in need of a listening ear, in need of a meal, a ride to work, in need of a place to sleep for a night or a week. Go help those in need, maybe with your most precious commodity, time.
Example: Mother Teresa is still the most beautiful example of this verse. She said many things in regards to assisting those less fortunate, and she knew from the experience of doing it. Her words are more than correct, they are beautiful in expanding this verse.
“We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.” ~Mother Teresa
“Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.” ~Mother Teresa
“If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” ~Mother Teresa
21 Her family has warm clothing, and so she doesn’t worry
when it snows.
Clothing your family must have been a big concern back in the day. If one considers the time to get wool from sheep and prepare it, dye it, weave it, sew it, I’m sure it took a lot of time. There are just so many references to cloth and clothing here! Why you ask? Well, for one reason... weaving has always been a task performed by women. Men weaved as well, but it was almost always acceptable for women, and in some cultures exclusively, a female job.
So it’s not a wonder that it is mentioned so often in these female specific verses. Ladies, take care of the clothes. How many of us help our brothers, fathers, husbands, boyfriends etc, dress properly?
“No, you cannot wear tube socks with shorts!!!”
“NO! Do not roll your sleeves up past your bicep!”
“No... that’s... ew. Take it OFF!”
How many hours can you spend looking and buying adorable sleepers and dresses for the cutest babies ever? How many hours do we women spend shopping, and for some(!) finding equilibrium and peace while sifting through racks of “fashionable” clothing? How often do we discuss "the outfit" with our girlies? The idea of making clothing for our family isn’t applicable, but women are still obsessed with clothes and “cloth”.
Her family is warm, practically clothed. Her family is well-dressed, dressed with care, attention to the fact that the kids have gloves and hats when the go to school, whether they return with them or not. Her man’s collars aren’t crazy or off their rockers. She takes care of all this. You didn’t even know you were already doing this one, did you?
And lastly, she does it without worry. She takes care of all this, does all this fussy stuff WITHOUT worrying. That’s the difference. We all do the clothing stuff or fashion advice, but a P31W does it without fussing, without worrying, without making your husband want to swear, without killing yourself over it, she does it wisely, within budget and without driving people to distraction.
Example: My sister-in-law (the only one thus far) has a husband (duh!) and three kids. She can probably tell you down to the penny she bought something for, when she bought it, why she bought it and how long the kid will probably be able to wear it for, and whether it’ll last to be a hand-me-down for the younger or future kid. That’s dedication. Every now and then she tries to force my brother into a new color tie or something, but she’s got this point covered. Whether or not she does it without worry, you’ll have to ask my brother. She takes care of them wisely though, and my niece and nephews always look cute enough to be edible!
22 She does her own sewing,
and everything she wears
is beautiful.
(NIV - She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple).
She makes her own bed coverings. She does her own sewing. She wears beautifuls stuff. She wears fine linen and purple. She’s still industrious! She makes quilts even!
Fine linen would have been expensive, so we can infer she has wealth enough for the luxury of fine clothing. According to Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, purple was one of the colors of the curtains that formed the tabernacle and the color the priests would wear (Ex.25-28). Purple dyes were more expensive, so only the wealthy could afford it, making it a sign of wealth and the royalty. This held over into later Western Christian culture, where the pope and higher ranking bishops were given purple robes as a symbol of status.
Now, hold on. That doesn’t mean you can go buy Couture fashion and justify it. But it does mean you can look nice, dress well, present yourself well and not be considered vain or in rebellion to later verses in this chapter. There is nothing wrong with wearing beautiful things. There is nothing wrong with dressing up and feeling beautiful. So if the sale dress and those one-time splurge shoes make you feel like you’re wearing Couture... buy the shoes and buy the dress, wisely. God hardwired women to need to feel beautiful, to glory in feeling beautiful and well-put-together now and then. After the husband looks presentable, the kids made to look as clean as possible, put on your purple, ladies. Put on your fine, purple linen and feel beautiful.
If you have nothing but sweat pants and t-shirts with kid boogers on it, go brush your hair, put on a little mascara and know that God sees you in purple linen all the time. He sees you as the finished you. He sees the now and the end version of his daughter. He sees the big picture. So right now if you only have that four-year-old former-bridesmaid dress you wore once and last years clearance shoes, wear them as purple linen. Wear them as God’s finest gift. Know that mirrors on earth lie, our female eyes like to see only the negative, and know that you are God’s beautiful daughter in finest purple. Put on your purple, ladies. Put on your purple.
More NEXT TIME in P31W Part V!!!!
DISCLAIMER: I am not a trained biblical scholar. I am just curious, bible hungry and care for my gender and our crazy methods of learning and growing as Christian women in a world that has a pretty skewed image of what women are or should be. If at any point you see a huge flaw in my logic or addition that needs to be added to the interpretation, please contact me and help me to correct or add to my expounding on this chapter.
I do not claim to have all the answers or have the CORRECT translation and meaning of all the verses in this series. I am just digging and sharing my findings and research concerning this chapter.
4/2013
and the needy.
It has always been a Christian calling to help the poor and needy. This verse has no mystery. The bible is full of exhortations to go and assist the poor. To clothe, feed and minister to them, and in doing so we are acting in service to Jesus Christ.
Do we always do this? No. We’ve all looked at homeless or poor people and thought “Why don’t they just get a job!?!?” Truth is we aren’t called to understand their life story, but just to help. We aren’t called to make sure they use it for food or getting back on track and not for booze or drugs. We’re called to help, and not just the literal poor and those in want of "things". The poor in spirit, poor in need of cash, poor in need of a hug, in need of a friend, in need of a listening ear, in need of a meal, a ride to work, in need of a place to sleep for a night or a week. Go help those in need, maybe with your most precious commodity, time.
Example: Mother Teresa is still the most beautiful example of this verse. She said many things in regards to assisting those less fortunate, and she knew from the experience of doing it. Her words are more than correct, they are beautiful in expanding this verse.
“We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.” ~Mother Teresa
“Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.” ~Mother Teresa
“If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” ~Mother Teresa
21 Her family has warm clothing, and so she doesn’t worry
when it snows.
Clothing your family must have been a big concern back in the day. If one considers the time to get wool from sheep and prepare it, dye it, weave it, sew it, I’m sure it took a lot of time. There are just so many references to cloth and clothing here! Why you ask? Well, for one reason... weaving has always been a task performed by women. Men weaved as well, but it was almost always acceptable for women, and in some cultures exclusively, a female job.
So it’s not a wonder that it is mentioned so often in these female specific verses. Ladies, take care of the clothes. How many of us help our brothers, fathers, husbands, boyfriends etc, dress properly?
“No, you cannot wear tube socks with shorts!!!”
“NO! Do not roll your sleeves up past your bicep!”
“No... that’s... ew. Take it OFF!”
How many hours can you spend looking and buying adorable sleepers and dresses for the cutest babies ever? How many hours do we women spend shopping, and for some(!) finding equilibrium and peace while sifting through racks of “fashionable” clothing? How often do we discuss "the outfit" with our girlies? The idea of making clothing for our family isn’t applicable, but women are still obsessed with clothes and “cloth”.
Her family is warm, practically clothed. Her family is well-dressed, dressed with care, attention to the fact that the kids have gloves and hats when the go to school, whether they return with them or not. Her man’s collars aren’t crazy or off their rockers. She takes care of all this. You didn’t even know you were already doing this one, did you?
And lastly, she does it without worry. She takes care of all this, does all this fussy stuff WITHOUT worrying. That’s the difference. We all do the clothing stuff or fashion advice, but a P31W does it without fussing, without worrying, without making your husband want to swear, without killing yourself over it, she does it wisely, within budget and without driving people to distraction.
Example: My sister-in-law (the only one thus far) has a husband (duh!) and three kids. She can probably tell you down to the penny she bought something for, when she bought it, why she bought it and how long the kid will probably be able to wear it for, and whether it’ll last to be a hand-me-down for the younger or future kid. That’s dedication. Every now and then she tries to force my brother into a new color tie or something, but she’s got this point covered. Whether or not she does it without worry, you’ll have to ask my brother. She takes care of them wisely though, and my niece and nephews always look cute enough to be edible!
22 She does her own sewing,
and everything she wears
is beautiful.
(NIV - She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple).
She makes her own bed coverings. She does her own sewing. She wears beautifuls stuff. She wears fine linen and purple. She’s still industrious! She makes quilts even!
Fine linen would have been expensive, so we can infer she has wealth enough for the luxury of fine clothing. According to Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, purple was one of the colors of the curtains that formed the tabernacle and the color the priests would wear (Ex.25-28). Purple dyes were more expensive, so only the wealthy could afford it, making it a sign of wealth and the royalty. This held over into later Western Christian culture, where the pope and higher ranking bishops were given purple robes as a symbol of status.
Now, hold on. That doesn’t mean you can go buy Couture fashion and justify it. But it does mean you can look nice, dress well, present yourself well and not be considered vain or in rebellion to later verses in this chapter. There is nothing wrong with wearing beautiful things. There is nothing wrong with dressing up and feeling beautiful. So if the sale dress and those one-time splurge shoes make you feel like you’re wearing Couture... buy the shoes and buy the dress, wisely. God hardwired women to need to feel beautiful, to glory in feeling beautiful and well-put-together now and then. After the husband looks presentable, the kids made to look as clean as possible, put on your purple, ladies. Put on your fine, purple linen and feel beautiful.
If you have nothing but sweat pants and t-shirts with kid boogers on it, go brush your hair, put on a little mascara and know that God sees you in purple linen all the time. He sees you as the finished you. He sees the now and the end version of his daughter. He sees the big picture. So right now if you only have that four-year-old former-bridesmaid dress you wore once and last years clearance shoes, wear them as purple linen. Wear them as God’s finest gift. Know that mirrors on earth lie, our female eyes like to see only the negative, and know that you are God’s beautiful daughter in finest purple. Put on your purple, ladies. Put on your purple.
More NEXT TIME in P31W Part V!!!!
DISCLAIMER: I am not a trained biblical scholar. I am just curious, bible hungry and care for my gender and our crazy methods of learning and growing as Christian women in a world that has a pretty skewed image of what women are or should be. If at any point you see a huge flaw in my logic or addition that needs to be added to the interpretation, please contact me and help me to correct or add to my expounding on this chapter.
I do not claim to have all the answers or have the CORRECT translation and meaning of all the verses in this series. I am just digging and sharing my findings and research concerning this chapter.
4/2013
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