Proverbs 31 Woman (P31W) - Part V - OR - Some Dense Food for Thought. (Proverbs 31:23-25).
23 Her husband is a well-known
and respected leader
in the city.
One can only hope. I do pray you’re not a P31W who’s married to a drug lord or unmotivated alcoholic or an unbeliever negating your efforts to be a P31W. I do pray your husband or future husband treats you like a princess and encourages all your efforts to be a woman of God. I do hope and pray for only the best of manly characters to win the hearts of my friends. I can acknowledge their need for growth and learning maturity too, but I pray only the best of Godly men for all my dear “sistahs” out there. I do my best to give young men some slack in their need to grow, and credit for their moments of excellence, but I’m biased where my ladies are concerned.
But how cool would it be, ladies, to know your present/future husband is well-known in his community or his business or ministry and is respected for his opinion and work. That he is respected in his city and is a leader wherever he goes. Women desire respect and to be leader and have some renown. How wonderful to be the P31W-wife of a respected elder worthy of respect wherever he goes? That would be a blessing beyond words!
So why is this mentioned to us? To make us wise in our choice of a spouse? To make us look at our man and see how far they’ve yet to go on that path to being a respected leader? To make us groan at our failure in marrying a plumber? To make us agonize that not only are we women working at being a P31W, the husband/man is working on being a man of God, holy cow, we’re never going to make it!!!
No. There is a phrase I believe to be true despite its different uses over the years. Supposedly the first time it was used was in a Texas newspaper The Port Arthur News, in February 1946 in an article called 'Meryll Frost - Most courageous athlete of 1945'.
“As he received his trophy, the plucky quarterback unfolded the story of how he 'came back'. He said 'They say behind every great man there's a woman. While I'm not a great man, there's a great woman behind me.”
It was later used as a feminist mantra in the 80s and in a variety of forms since. I’m sure you’ve heard it before. “Behind every great man, is a great woman.” This is a fact, because a man with the encouragement of his wife and family behind him, is invincible. A man with the belief and support of his wife in him can do anything. A man beaten down with doubts and discouragement and fear, is a hesitant man, not a renown man, not a respected man. A man who knows his wife is solidly behind him, is a man confident and sure. A man who knows he’s respected at home is therefore respected at the city gates, in his area of business and in his ministry. Even a plumber, who make really good money by the way, has the potential to be a respected man at the gates, with a great heart for God and his wife solidly behind him.
Support and encourage your men, ladies. And they will be well-known, respected leaders not only in the community, but in your homes.
Example: Or maybe this is more of a disclaimer, but whatever. Just because you know a couple is working on their relationship or has areas of disagreement does not discount them from this verse. Just cause you know that the wife picks on her husband for always watching football and not interacting with the kids, doesn’t mean that the wife isn’t behind her husband and that they don’t have the capability of being leaders and respected examples. Encourage them. Older women, teach the younger women to support and guide, not nag. Encourage your husbands to encourage the young men to follow God’s leading and grow and earn that respect at the gates. It is something we can learn, it is something we should be learning.
24 She makes clothes to sell
to the shop owners.
Ah, clothes again. Women, I tell you. We are obsessed with clothes. But here, she’s not concerned with her family, but it making a profit on her skills. Here, she is making extra, doing more than she needs so she can gain from it. She goes above and beyond to make extra cash for the household.
She takes her skill, whatever your skill may be, and makes is a side project for profit. She’s good at getting a return for her work. Maybe you make amazing dill pickles. Or crochet the best pot holders, or know how to replace brakes and change oil, can nanny some friend’s kids a couple times a week, or run a website and advertise on the sidebars. Maybe you’re good with graphics and can do side projects for people or like I do, take portraits on the weekends. Whatever your skill is, your “thing” may very well possibly be profitable. Being industrious, wise and maybe a little street smart, is very much within the boundaries of a P31W
If you can do it well, never do it for free - unless God calls you to give it away as a gift. Otherwise, any training you have, any skill you possess, is worthy of its fair wages.
25 She is strong and graceful,
as well as cheerful
about the future.
(NIV - She is clothed with STRENGTH and DIGNITY; she can LAUGH at the days to come).
Both translations here are excellent, but the NIV really stirs my gut. It makes me think of Greek sculptures, such as the figures of Nike or Aphrodite. She is clothed in strength and dignity. Strength means the “quality or state of being strong”. It means force, power or might. Dignity means “the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect”. The P31W is a force to be reckoned with and she is worthy of respect. She doesn’t demand respect or earn respect, but is worthy of respect. Her power, her might, her strength is God given and not an earthly or modern definition of strength. Harken back to verse 17 where her arms are “made strong for her tasks”. There she is clothed in strength for whatever needs doing, whatever she needs to face. Before it’s physical strength. Here I believe it is mental, emotional, and spiritual strength. It is mentioned in the same breath as dignity, so here I believe it is a testament to character strength. Here, the P31W’s character is described. She is clothed in strength and dignity. We’re not talking about literal clothing here, we’ve done that elsewhere. It is about the dressing of her character. Here are the elements of her nature, and she is made strong and worthy of respect, oozing dignity perhaps.
Intense stuff. But one more thing about this magical woman. She laughs at days to come. She is cheerful about the future. I like to laugh. Laughing is one of my favorites. Laughing I feel is the opposite of crying and I hate crying. Laughing is healthy and good. Laughing usually means joy or at least humor. I love to laugh, as the old Mary Poppins song goes.
But this woman laughs at the unknown; the future, the unpredictable, the uncontrollable, the who-knows-what. That’s different. Most women like to be in control of things, even if just their own life, their career, their job, their closet, their weight, their cycles, their kitchen, their computer, their bookshelves, their car, their face. We like to be in control. I like to be in control. No, I live to control things. I want a finger one every pulse that concerns me. When I come against things that I can’t control, it’s usually panic, outrage, ranting and raving and frustration until I let go of the fact I can’t control that situation. When I adjust and allow it to be out of my power, I’m okay, but it takes me awhile to get there.
This woman I’m suppose to mirror, laughs at the future. Laughs at the unknown. Is carefree about tomorrow. This woman is the embodiment of the exhortation in Matthew 6.
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? ~ vr. 25-27
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. ~ vr. 33-34
We should laugh at the days ahead. We should be confident and expectant and hopeful. Hopeful for the work we are to do. Expectant of Christ’s return. Confident in our faith, our God’s power, and our authority in Jesus Christ. So it may be unnatural at first to laugh at the unknown, the uncontrollable, but that's what we're supposed to do. It may take some practice. But regardless, let us laugh merrily, ladies. Let our characters be described as strong and dignified, and let us laugh. Let us laugh.
More, NEXT TIME in P31W Part VI!!!!
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 respected leader
in the city.
One can only hope. I do pray you’re not a P31W who’s married to a drug lord or unmotivated alcoholic or an unbeliever negating your efforts to be a P31W. I do pray your husband or future husband treats you like a princess and encourages all your efforts to be a woman of God. I do hope and pray for only the best of manly characters to win the hearts of my friends. I can acknowledge their need for growth and learning maturity too, but I pray only the best of Godly men for all my dear “sistahs” out there. I do my best to give young men some slack in their need to grow, and credit for their moments of excellence, but I’m biased where my ladies are concerned.
But how cool would it be, ladies, to know your present/future husband is well-known in his community or his business or ministry and is respected for his opinion and work. That he is respected in his city and is a leader wherever he goes. Women desire respect and to be leader and have some renown. How wonderful to be the P31W-wife of a respected elder worthy of respect wherever he goes? That would be a blessing beyond words!
So why is this mentioned to us? To make us wise in our choice of a spouse? To make us look at our man and see how far they’ve yet to go on that path to being a respected leader? To make us groan at our failure in marrying a plumber? To make us agonize that not only are we women working at being a P31W, the husband/man is working on being a man of God, holy cow, we’re never going to make it!!!
No. There is a phrase I believe to be true despite its different uses over the years. Supposedly the first time it was used was in a Texas newspaper The Port Arthur News, in February 1946 in an article called 'Meryll Frost - Most courageous athlete of 1945'.
“As he received his trophy, the plucky quarterback unfolded the story of how he 'came back'. He said 'They say behind every great man there's a woman. While I'm not a great man, there's a great woman behind me.”
It was later used as a feminist mantra in the 80s and in a variety of forms since. I’m sure you’ve heard it before. “Behind every great man, is a great woman.” This is a fact, because a man with the encouragement of his wife and family behind him, is invincible. A man with the belief and support of his wife in him can do anything. A man beaten down with doubts and discouragement and fear, is a hesitant man, not a renown man, not a respected man. A man who knows his wife is solidly behind him, is a man confident and sure. A man who knows he’s respected at home is therefore respected at the city gates, in his area of business and in his ministry. Even a plumber, who make really good money by the way, has the potential to be a respected man at the gates, with a great heart for God and his wife solidly behind him.
Support and encourage your men, ladies. And they will be well-known, respected leaders not only in the community, but in your homes.
Example: Or maybe this is more of a disclaimer, but whatever. Just because you know a couple is working on their relationship or has areas of disagreement does not discount them from this verse. Just cause you know that the wife picks on her husband for always watching football and not interacting with the kids, doesn’t mean that the wife isn’t behind her husband and that they don’t have the capability of being leaders and respected examples. Encourage them. Older women, teach the younger women to support and guide, not nag. Encourage your husbands to encourage the young men to follow God’s leading and grow and earn that respect at the gates. It is something we can learn, it is something we should be learning.
24 She makes clothes to sell
to the shop owners.
Ah, clothes again. Women, I tell you. We are obsessed with clothes. But here, she’s not concerned with her family, but it making a profit on her skills. Here, she is making extra, doing more than she needs so she can gain from it. She goes above and beyond to make extra cash for the household.
She takes her skill, whatever your skill may be, and makes is a side project for profit. She’s good at getting a return for her work. Maybe you make amazing dill pickles. Or crochet the best pot holders, or know how to replace brakes and change oil, can nanny some friend’s kids a couple times a week, or run a website and advertise on the sidebars. Maybe you’re good with graphics and can do side projects for people or like I do, take portraits on the weekends. Whatever your skill is, your “thing” may very well possibly be profitable. Being industrious, wise and maybe a little street smart, is very much within the boundaries of a P31W
If you can do it well, never do it for free - unless God calls you to give it away as a gift. Otherwise, any training you have, any skill you possess, is worthy of its fair wages.
25 She is strong and graceful,
as well as cheerful
about the future.
(NIV - She is clothed with STRENGTH and DIGNITY; she can LAUGH at the days to come).
Both translations here are excellent, but the NIV really stirs my gut. It makes me think of Greek sculptures, such as the figures of Nike or Aphrodite. She is clothed in strength and dignity. Strength means the “quality or state of being strong”. It means force, power or might. Dignity means “the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect”. The P31W is a force to be reckoned with and she is worthy of respect. She doesn’t demand respect or earn respect, but is worthy of respect. Her power, her might, her strength is God given and not an earthly or modern definition of strength. Harken back to verse 17 where her arms are “made strong for her tasks”. There she is clothed in strength for whatever needs doing, whatever she needs to face. Before it’s physical strength. Here I believe it is mental, emotional, and spiritual strength. It is mentioned in the same breath as dignity, so here I believe it is a testament to character strength. Here, the P31W’s character is described. She is clothed in strength and dignity. We’re not talking about literal clothing here, we’ve done that elsewhere. It is about the dressing of her character. Here are the elements of her nature, and she is made strong and worthy of respect, oozing dignity perhaps.
Intense stuff. But one more thing about this magical woman. She laughs at days to come. She is cheerful about the future. I like to laugh. Laughing is one of my favorites. Laughing I feel is the opposite of crying and I hate crying. Laughing is healthy and good. Laughing usually means joy or at least humor. I love to laugh, as the old Mary Poppins song goes.
But this woman laughs at the unknown; the future, the unpredictable, the uncontrollable, the who-knows-what. That’s different. Most women like to be in control of things, even if just their own life, their career, their job, their closet, their weight, their cycles, their kitchen, their computer, their bookshelves, their car, their face. We like to be in control. I like to be in control. No, I live to control things. I want a finger one every pulse that concerns me. When I come against things that I can’t control, it’s usually panic, outrage, ranting and raving and frustration until I let go of the fact I can’t control that situation. When I adjust and allow it to be out of my power, I’m okay, but it takes me awhile to get there.
This woman I’m suppose to mirror, laughs at the future. Laughs at the unknown. Is carefree about tomorrow. This woman is the embodiment of the exhortation in Matthew 6.
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? ~ vr. 25-27
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. ~ vr. 33-34
We should laugh at the days ahead. We should be confident and expectant and hopeful. Hopeful for the work we are to do. Expectant of Christ’s return. Confident in our faith, our God’s power, and our authority in Jesus Christ. So it may be unnatural at first to laugh at the unknown, the uncontrollable, but that's what we're supposed to do. It may take some practice. But regardless, let us laugh merrily, ladies. Let our characters be described as strong and dignified, and let us laugh. Let us laugh.
More, NEXT TIME in P31W Part VI!!!!
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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