Proverbs 31:10-12 – The Heroine of the Story – Bible study

Proverbs 31:10-12 The Heroine of the Story In the Hebrew, the word virtuous means valor and strength. It is used 228 times in the Old Testament. Most often, it refers to an army which has proven itself to be powerful or victorious. Yet here, the word is applied to a woman? Why? Because the woman in the family is the heroine of the story. This verse is literally saying, "Who can find a powerful and victorious woman? for her price is far above rubies, The heart of her husband doeth safely trust in her so that he shall have no need of spoil." If you are a woman and have not read Proverbs 31, you have missed a great and challenging chapter written just for you. In this chapter, God calls upon all women to reach beyond themselves and to become, as the United States Army used to challenge their potential recruits, "all you can be." This chapter is such a challenge that I have heard of some women who became discouraged after reading it. Some read what God desires all women to be and, realizing they had not arrived, wanted to give up. Let me tell every lady and man here today that God is NOT disappointed with what you are and He never will be, as long as you have not quit working to become what He made you to be. All of us come up short. All of us. As there are too many points in this chapter for me to even begin to mention, let me point you into the categories in which God wants to challenge you. I. The Character Category A. God spend more time on this category than all of the others combined. 1. Why? 2. Because having the right kind of character is the foundation for being everything that God wants us to be. B. Note some of the verses that deal with the god-like womans character. 1. She works. Proverbs 31:13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. 2. She feeds her family. Proverbs 31:14 she bringeth her food from afar. a. Good news to the ladies who cannot cook. (1) This verse does not demand that you cook. (2) It says you bring it from a far place. (3) That sounds like take out to me! b. But seriously, the god-like woman is able to provide food for her family. 3. She has business sense. Proverbs 31:16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. a. The Bible has never relegated women to the ki9tchen. b. In that day, it was the mans role to purchase and care for the fields, but this verse has the woman being the one who purchases and then plows and plants and produces to provide for her family. c. Why? Because God did not make women stupid and does not want them to be treated as if they were. d. However ladies, neither does God want you to fulfill the role of the man to the neglect of the role He has given to you. 4. She is strong. Proverbs 31:17 She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. a. This verse is speaking of physically strong, but God desires the god-like woman to be strong in more ways than with muscles. b. She should be strong in faith, strong emotionally, strong in her family, and then strong physically. c. One of the most important areas to help women to become strong in today is emotionally. (1) Too many people, men and women, have been hurt and scared emotionally. (2) The good news that Jesus Christ can realign and rebalance your heart. 5. She has compassion. Proverbs 30:20 She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. a. Men often chide with the womans way of thinking, saying it is not logicaland most of the time it isnt. b. Most of the time the woman things with her heart first and her head second. c. Why? Because He made the man to think with his head first and his heart second and man needed a counter- balance. d. Ladies, do not be ashamed of a tender, caring heart and do not give it away! C. These are but a few of the characteristics of character that God mentions in this chapter. 1. Ladies and gentlemen, God wants us all to have a righteous character, 2. Sadly, a righteous character is what the majority of people are missing today. And we are hurting for it! a. Even God has a difficult time using a person with no righteous character. b. How is God going to use a liar, a thief, a lazy person, or one with no self-control. 3. But not only does God have a difficult time with people without character, other people have a hard time with them. a. People without character make lousy human beings to each other too. b. Who wants to come along side of an angry, wrathful person? a selfish person? an irresponsible person? c. Let me tell you. NO BODY. (1) Nobody wants to be married to you. (2) Nobody wants to work with you. (3) Nobody wants to live beside. (4) Nobody wants you for a parent or for a child. d. That may be tough to hear but it is true. D. One of the reasons God starts by discussing a persons character is because until you develop a righteous character, you are not fit to be another persons husband or wife. 1. I often say that a person needs to be able to stand alone before he/she attempts to stand alongside of another. 2. If you cannot control yourself, how will you make life enjoyable for another? II. The Household Category A. Three different times in this chapter, the Lord speaks of caring for a household. Proverbs 31:15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. Proverbs 31:21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. Proverbs 31:27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. 1. Why? 2. Because from birth, we are part of a household. 3. The thought of a household is family. 4. As you learn to stand alone, you must also learn to care for others. B. May I remind you that not every woman will be a mother and not every woman will be a wife, but every woman will come from and belong to a household? 1. Everybody should have family. 2. In a sin-torn world, that may not always be true. C. If you do have a family 1. Learn how to get along with them. 2. Learn how to love them. 3. Learn how to care for them. D. If you honestly dont have any family, adopt one. 1. Blood may be thicker than water but water is thicker than nothing. 2. There are too many people in this world who are alone for those who are saved to stay alone. 3. Find someone to care for. III. The Marriage Category A. Twice in this chapter, God spoke of marriage. Proverbs 31:11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. 12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. Proverbs 31:23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. B. These three verses tell us three traits of the god-like wife. 1. \#11\ She is faithful to her husband. a. Faithfulness is a character trait learned before marriage and it is to be practiced for life. b. Wives, you may have been deceived and married a poor example of a man, but that is not excuse for you becoming a poor example of a woman. 2. \#12\ She is good not evil. a. To remove the evil is to remove malice. b. Malice shows itself in three ways: (1) It wants to hurt everyone. (2) It wants revenge those who wronged them. (3) It wants justice even with loved ones. c. Ditch malice. Be the heroine. 3. \#13\ She is helpful. a. Believe it or not, the woman was created to help the man. b. That is what makes the woman the heroine. She sacrifices herself to help her husband. c. Now, what would be perfect is if every marriage had both a hero and a heroine. (1) Two people sacrifices themselves for the other. (2) But for marriage to work, at least one person must be willing to make sacrifices. (3) Ladies, the god-like woman is willing to help her husband. IV. The Divine Category Proverbs 30:30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. A. The debate has raged for centuries does God really want us to fear Him or to respect Him. B. My views change as I grow older but I believe I is both. 1. I believe first we need to have some knee-knocking fear of God. a. Fear that reminds us He is the omnipotent, just, holy God. b. I see today what happenseven to Christianswho have never developed a knee-knocking fear of God. c. They become compromising Christians. 2. Then, after we get to fear God, I think we are to learn to respect God. C. I am not certain we will ever respect God as we should if we do not first learn to fear God as we ought. Ladies, God is teaching you in this chapter how to be the strong and victorious woman. May God give you the wisdom to listen.