The Proverbs 31 Woman

As a little girl I LOVED hearing about the Proverbs 31 woman! I didn’t understand a thing about her attributes but I knew she was worth more than Rubies. What else did a girl who loved shiny rings need to hear?

However, as I grew older I started to read the attributes of the infamous woman of Proverbs 31. This was somewhat tragic to me because I realized that no woman could ever be worth more than rubies because nobody could ever do everything the Proverbs 31 woman did!

Mrs. Proverbs 31 was just too perfect!!!

I mean, seriously, this is a woman who has it ALL together. I knew there was no way I could EVER replicate her as a woman so, to be honest, I just ignored that section of the Bible for a few years.

So, for a number of years I avoided reading Proverbs 31. I just didn’t need that type of stress in my life.

But then 2019 rolled around and I found myself wondering how I was “measuring up” as a wife and mom. So, with great reluctance, I cracked open Proverbs 31.

Mrs. Proverbs 31 was still overwhelmingly perfect.

I was NOT.

With my mouth sagging a bit lower, I trudged on in my study by reading a few commentaries on Proverbs 31. I am so glad that I did! You see, I learned that many Bible scholars don’t believe that Proverbs 31 is the model for a perfect wife and mother at all (although her attributes can be applied in that manner). Instead, they believe, she’s an example, a blueprint if you will, of a perfect church!

Take into consideration this commentary excerpt,

The spiritual expositors see in this description of the virtuous woman a prophetic representation of the Church of Christ in her truth and purity and influence.

www.biblehub.com, “Proverbs 31:10.” Pulpit Commentary. Accessed July 16, 2020

I don’t know about you but this was life changing information to me!

Instead of viewing the Proverbs 31 woman as an impossible standard to meet as a woman, I began to study her from the viewpoint of her being a prototype of the church.

Suddenly, I began to see the tremendous beauty, and hope, of the Proverbs 31 woman!

Next week we will begin to unpack her attributes! It’s my hope that you begin to see Mrs. Proverbs 31 in a new light!

Not the perfect woman that nobody can emulate but, instead, a vision of the church to come!

Indeed, a bride with more worth than Rubies!