Proverbs 31:24
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She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
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A virtuous woman - the kind of woman every wise man seeks to marry - is an enterprising woman. She is not content with merely being a housewife. She knows she is capable of more, and so she does more. The example here is a manufacturing and wholesale operation in fine linen and girdles. She has an entrepreneurial and industrious spirit that seeks profitable projects to support her husband and build the family estate.
Leisure women, who like the easy life of a housewife and resent such a proverb, need to remember that a mother gave this inspired advice! This chapter of Proverbs has the words of King Lemuel, but they are the prophecy his mother taught him (31:1-2). This great mother gave her son advice from heaven on how to conduct himself as king (31:3-9) and identify a virtuous woman for marriage (31:10-31). Wise men and women will take heed!
In all fairness, the virtuous woman did have servants (31:15). However, managing servants brings its own burdens. But she did not have refrigerators, telephones, email, easy transportation, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners, clothes washers and dryers, dishwashers, and a thousand other labor saving devices, inventions, and sources of information. She was exceptionally diligent, disciplined, focused, and productive.
It is an error of Bible interpretation to believe a woman must be home all the time doing only domestic duties. Some require this even when children are in school, old enough to care for themselves, or married and gone! The "keepers at home" of Titus 2:5 condemns idleness, busybodies, and gossip, which a comparison with I Timothy 5:13-14 shows. It warns against the actions of the strange woman, who wanders wantonly in the city (7:11).
The Bible error, the Victorian Period, and other factors have caused many Christian women to be decorative, pampered, and unproductive objects at home. God never intended this! These women struggle to put boxes of cereal out for breakfast, run a couple loads of laundry through machines, and extort pizza out of their husbands for supper. What do they do all day? Nothing! The virtuous woman could do their day in an hour!
The virtuous woman is preeminently a diligent woman - extremely hard working for her husband and children. Fearing the Lord (31:30), this holy woman applies herself physically and mentally from early to late each day. She has no time for chatting on the phone, long emails, window-shopping, tea parties, Bible studies with televangelists, sitting for hours at soccer practice, playing tennis, checking prices at ten stores, sewing clothes that could be purchased, reading for pleasure, art lessons, or other wastes of time.
A woman with small children and no maidens has little time for business, but that is true only for a few years of a woman's life. If she is a good mother, even girls of 8-12 can do many domestic duties. The heart of a great woman is motivated to do more as soon as possible. She does not pace herself, protect a leisure lifestyle, or become a soccer mom. She wants to outwork her husband and contribute financially, and so she does!
The virtuous woman is creative, diligent, energetic, focused, intense, and most of all, productive. She gets a lot done every day! She does not lose or waste time. Her family is well cared for, but she does not stop there. She looks to the future and builds the estate. Men married to such women should give them part of their earnings, so they can plow it into even greater earnings (31:16,31). Her husband is famous because of her (31:23,28).
Christian woman, here is the standard; here is the ideal - the virtuous woman. The lesson is simple: she takes on financial projects to add earnings to the family, whether it is a paid job or a small business. She is not content with the leisurely life of a housewife in an age of many conveniences. She finds other opportunities to add income for the family, and she does not sacrifice the family pursuing them. She is the perfect woman. Copy her!
Christian man, here is the standard; here is the ideal - the virtuous woman. There are two inspired criteria that a king's mother taught: a woman that will be a great wife fears the Lord (31:30), and she is exceptionally creative and diligent, well beyond mere domestic duties. Require these two traits, and you will have a jewel with value far above rubies (31:10). If men demanded women like this, the world would be a much better place.
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