31 Days of Virtue: Day 7

Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. Proverbs 31:10

Today I am looking at the verse that inspired this series: Proverbs 31:10. Who can find a virtuous woman? Bible.cc is an online parallel Bible. There are many different words used in the different translations of Proverbs 31:10.

virtuous

capable

noble character

excellent

diligent

strong character

worthy

valiant

I think these are all great words to describe a godly woman. We must conform to moral and ethical principles; be morally excellent, upright, chaste (virtuous). We need to be efficient and competent (capable). Our character should be admirable (noble). We need to possess outstanding quality (excellent). We need to be attentive and persistent in doing anything (diligent). Our character should also be firm, uncompromising, and decisively unyielding (strong). We should have great and commendable character and value (worthy). And we need to be brave and courageous (valiant).

She sounds like the perfect woman, right? But aren't we also told to strive to be like Christ? He's perfect! How can we ever reach that goal? By staying on the narrow path, keeping in step with the Spirit, and running the race until we reach the finish line: eternal life with Christ! So don't get discouraged if some of these characteristics do not come easy for you. We all have our downfalls; we just have to get back up and keep running. Don't worry about who seems to be doing better than you or how far behind you think you are. That doesn't matter. All you need to do is keep your eyes on Jesus. Then everything else, including these characteristics, will fall into place.

Archive of 31 Days of Virtue:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

31 Days of Virtue: Day 3

A wife of noble character is her husband's crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones. Proverbs 12:4


In the Bible 'virtuous' is often translated as 'noble'. Therefore, this verse could also be read as,
   "A wife of virtue is her husband's crown..."
To be a virtuous woman, we must be the crown of our husbands. A crown. Have you ever compared yourself to a crown? A crown is beautiful, radiant, giving whomever wearing it honor and glory. As a crown to our husbands, we must do the same thing. We praise our husbands. We bring pleasure to our husbands. We make his life as beautiful as we can.


We certainly do not want to be on the other end of the spectrum and be the "decay of his bones." We want to build up our husbands, not tear them down. We want our attitudes and actions to reflect on him in such a way that the community respect and honor him.


The how. How do we be our husband's crown? First and foremost, we pray. It can definitely be hard after a day of crying babies or if you've had a harder day at the office than usual. But we take it one day at a time, and we ask God for help. To be our husband's crown, I think the fruit of the Spirit must come into play here. We need to exude these characteristics. We need to be loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, gentle, faithful, good, and self-controlled. And the only way to have these fruits and have them show through us, is to have Jesus Christ at the center of our life. 


What it comes down to is this: being completely surrendered to Christ. Because when you are completely surrendered to Christ, you can't be anything other than a crown to your husband. And your worth will be 'far above rubies'.