God's Ideal Mother

God's Ideal Mother (Proverbs 31)

What woman would not like her husband to say, "My wife is a rare find"? This confession is not based on external, superficial characteristics but on the intuitive perception that this woman is a woman of character. Do you want to be a rare find? Look at the character described here.

Her Character Supports Her Relationship to Her Family

Her husband can trust her. He has confidence in her abilities and judgment and has no reason to change his mind. There is a Gibraltar-like steadfastness in her life that leaves him with no distrust. He need not worry that every evening he will come home to a threatening, unsettling situation. Out of this profound trust, her husband quarries the inner strength to be a man of accomplishment. "Her husband is known in the gates" (v. 23, KJV). The proverb suggests that a man's wife is the chief source of his own significance and self-worth.

Her family senses her domestic concern. She has her finger on the pulse beat of her household (v. 27). She does not mind finding or taking the extra time needed to demonstrate interest in the domestic (v. 15). She uses resources to bring beauty and variety to her home. She uses imagination and is prepared to experiment (v. 14). Her household is not the perimeter of her life. She has other horizons in life, but not to the exclusion of the domestic.

She will have the praise of those who know her best (v. 28). It is a small thing if those who know us least are those who praise us most. This woman has the praise of her husband and children, the most important of all.

Her Life Reflects Interest Beyond Her Family

By no means is the domestic the end of her interest. She enjoys the exhilaration of creativity (v. 13). The biblical woman is not riveted to a mop handle or a diaper pail. This woman knows unfetted artistic freedom. She works with her hands.

She is a business woman (v. 16-17). Good judgment and acumen, financial independence, and the trust of her husband characterize this woman. The sense of weariness that comes from indolence is foreign to her. She is an enterprising woman with that which is hers.

She is socially responsible (v. 20). Her interest extends beyond the circle of her own family. She does not have a domestic tunnel vision which sees nothing beyond the household routine. Because of this she is sought as a sympathetic and gracious counselor (v. 26). Wisdom becomes an artesian well springing up within her. Any woman who embodies the traits of this proverb will become sought after by many friends who want the secret of her life.

Her Life Reflects Awareness of Her Own Worth

This woman is not unaware of the high esteem she has in the eyes of her husband and children. She knows that "her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her" (v. 28). She reflects this sense of self-worth in the clothing that she wears (v. 22). The Bible takes it for granted that a woman's self-worth is expressed in the way she clothes and carries herself. This true worth is established in her inner relationship with God (v. 30). She is an independent individual in her own right, not merely an appendage to her husband (v. 31). She does not have to fawn, flirt, or posture herself for praise. "Her own works praise her in the gates" (KJV). She laughs at the future (v. 25). Time is not the great enemy of this woman.

How should you react to this picture? No woman may embody all of this ideal portrait. But every Christian woman should say, "I will do what I can." This will bring the praise of God and of man.