"Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land."
Proverbs 31 is a great challenge and encouragement. The more I read and study, the more convicted I am of my shortcomings. Reading about her husband seems almost a break, like, "hey, pick on HIM for a while." However, that is not the purpose of this verse.
We've seen already how industrious and helpful our woman of impeccable character is; this verse shows us how much of a difference a virtuous woman makes on her household.
Proverbs 14:1 says, "Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands."
In Old Testament times, there was no such thing as a "City Courthouse." Instead, locals went to the gates of the city, where the wise men (the Bible word for elders here means Senators) listened to cases and judged righteously. The Virtuous woman has a very good, honorable husband. Perhaps too, he was so successful because of the woman in his life. It is said of Daniel Webster:
It is incredible that the woman in his life is what seemed to make the difference.
What kind of woman are you?
Do you build up the people (like your dad and or brother figures) in your life? Are you encouraging or incorrigible? Are the men in your life your heros, and do you frequently positively remind them?
What you, as a woman, say to your husband, father, or brother can make him go beyond what he would generally aspire to, or cause him to discard all character and virtue for the easy life.
So go, and speak LIFE! Build up your house so that your man can be as positively influential as possible in his sphere.
Proverbs 31 is a great challenge and encouragement. The more I read and study, the more convicted I am of my shortcomings. Reading about her husband seems almost a break, like, "hey, pick on HIM for a while." However, that is not the purpose of this verse.
We've seen already how industrious and helpful our woman of impeccable character is; this verse shows us how much of a difference a virtuous woman makes on her household.
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| my parents and examples |
In Old Testament times, there was no such thing as a "City Courthouse." Instead, locals went to the gates of the city, where the wise men (the Bible word for elders here means Senators) listened to cases and judged righteously. The Virtuous woman has a very good, honorable husband. Perhaps too, he was so successful because of the woman in his life. It is said of Daniel Webster:
By age 31 he had become known as one of America's most effective speakers. One of Webster's earlier biographers, Norman Hapgood, assigns much of the great orator's success to the quality of his marriage to a woman, Grace Fletcher, whom he married at the age of 26. (Of her the writer says)She had the goal of keeping alert to those high principles which her husband held. Her upright New England faith and sweet loyalty must have been one of the strongest barriers resisting the temptations which lay before the impressionable statesman.When Grace Fletcher Webster died, Daniel remarried a year later. The biographer said of Carolyn Roy, his second wife:She brought him money and social position and nothing else that could be traced in his life.Two years into that second marriage it was said of Webster:He steadily declined from a height at which his altering nature could no longer sustain itself.Daniel Webster began overeating and drinking. His spending habits soared out of control, and his moral life disintegrated. By the end of his political life, the man once known for his great integrity had become typed as a political compromiser. Tragedy mounted upon tragedy, and when he died, he was a beaten and bitter man.High Call High Privilege by Gail MacDonald (pages 99-100)
It is incredible that the woman in his life is what seemed to make the difference.
What kind of woman are you?
Do you build up the people (like your dad and or brother figures) in your life? Are you encouraging or incorrigible? Are the men in your life your heros, and do you frequently positively remind them?
What you, as a woman, say to your husband, father, or brother can make him go beyond what he would generally aspire to, or cause him to discard all character and virtue for the easy life.
So go, and speak LIFE! Build up your house so that your man can be as positively influential as possible in his sphere.
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