A Wife of Noble Character

Some of you may have noticed where I added a new little phrase into the subtitle of my blog, "A Proverbs 31 Hopeful Living a Set-Apart Life with a Man After God's Own Heart." Most all Christian women are familiar with this passage and may know it as "the virtuous woman" or simply "the Proverbs 31 woman." The heading in my Bible (New Living Translation) states "A Wife of Noble Character." Despite all these different titles or headings, we can all get the picture as to what this scripture passage refers to.

As of right now, I am not a wife. I'm simply a young, engaged woman on the path to marriage and wifehood, and that day may come a little sooner than we originally planned for. King and I had set the date for December, but now we can't help but feel that perhaps, the Lord sees no reason for us to wait. We haven't made any final decisions about the date, but either way, we'll be getting married quite soon. My prayer--nearly every single day--is that God would prepare us for our marriage to come and that He'll give us the qualities we need to be good spouses. I pray that we would love one another more and more each day and that we'll always focus on Christ as the center of our marriage.

I like to think of Proverbs 31 as my wifely motto. I am no where near the type of woman/wife I should be (this is where my prayer about God preparing us and giving us the qualities we need to be good spouses comes in). I am a woman who is completely and utterly domestically-challenged. I can't cook, clean, or really do anything considered as "woman's work." Most of my childhood and young adult life was focused entirely on academics and sports, and so to be honest, I never really had (or perhaps didn't take) the time to learn any of these things. My prayer now is that God would instill these qualities in me so that one day, I might be able to move from a Hopeful to a true virtuous woman.

In the mean time, I thought I would share Proverbs 31 with my readers. Bear with me here because it's kind of long. But if you stick with it, I know you'll get a blessing from it.


A Wife of Noble Character

"Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?
She is more precious than rubies.
Her husband can trust her,
and she will greatly enrich his life.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.

She finds wool and flax
and busily spins it.
She is like a merchant's ship,
bringing 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 to inspect a field and buys it,
with her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She is energetic and strong,
a hard worker.
She makes sure her dealings are profitable;
her lamp burns late into the night.

Her hands are busy spinning thread,
her fingers twisting fiber.
She extends a helping hand to the poor
and opens her arms to the needy.
She has no fear of winter for her
household,
for everyone has warm clothes.

She makes her own bedspreads.
She dresses in fine linen and purple
gowns.
Her husband is well known at the city
gates,
where he stis wiwth the other civic leaders.
She makes belted linen garments
and sashes to sell to the merchants.

She is clothed with strength and
dignity,
and she laughs without fear of the future.
When she speaks, her words are wise,
and she gives instructions with
kindness.
She carefully watches everything in her
household
and suffers nothing from laziness.

Her children stand and bless her.
Her husband praises her:
"There are many virtuous and capable
women in the world,
but you surpass them all!"

Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not
last; but a woman who fears the Lord will
be greatly praised.
Reward her for all she has done.
Let her deeds publicly declare her
praises."

Proverbs 31:10-31


My prayer is that one day, my husband will be able to say "There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpasss them all!" How I long to hear those words. I know that it will definitely be a challenge to live up to such a high standard, but I know that "I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me" (Philippiains 4:13 HCSB) and that if I "delight [myself] in the Lord...He will give [me] the desires of [my] heart" (Psalm 37:4 NIV). If I only have faith and trust in God that He will give me the strength I need to become a virtuous woman, then I know He'll come through for me.

Until I hear my husband say those words, I'm going to try my hardest at being the very best Hopeful I can be!