All of you know I’m not much of a hipster. About a year ago, I heard a term for the first time, and it took me a minute or two to figure out what the term meant. “Trad Wife.” That term is being used today for young women that wish to marry and have a traditional marriage and family. These girls are done with the feminist views that have left a lot of misery in their wake. The word “trad” stands for traditional. These girls want a marriage and home just like the old TV programs such as “Leave it to Beaver” and “Father knows Best.” They want to love their husbands and take care of their homes making it an oasis for their family in a hard world. The financial times in which we live make it difficult for young families to pull this off, but I love that “trad” has come on the scene. Proverbs 18:22 says that to “find a wife is a good thing.” In my opinion, putting off marriage until you get into your 30’s and 40’s isn’t wise. How do I arrive at that opinion? I simply look at the pattern the Bible describes. It celebrates marriage. It celebrates children. It celebrates roles for husbands and roles for wives. I realize that if you get hooked up with the wrong person it can lead to great heartache, but in general marriage is a wonderful institution. In the blog today I want to walk through Proverbs 31:10-31 which celebrates one lady in a myriad of ways. Each verse will have a quick commentary.

  • V.10. “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.” It should be the desire of young girls to be a virtuous women and young men should desire that type of girl. She is more valuable than worldly riches.
  • V.11-12. She is trustworthy and he has great confidence in her. She consistently does him good. A major part of any successful marriage is the building of each other. A man should build his wife by praising and loving her and the wife should look at her husband as the only man for her.
  • V. 13. Seeking “wool and flax” means that she wants her family to be clothed and she is willing to work with her hands to procure that desire.
  • V. 14. Industrious and resourceful are great descriptions for her. The merchant ships from afar would bring delicacies for the king’s table. She wants her family fed with wonderful food.
  • V. 15. Nothing slothful about this lady. She gets up before everyone else and prepares food for the day. The kids have breakfast, along with her husband. Even the other workers around the house have a nice start to the day because of her.
  • V. 16. She is entrepreneurial. She knows a good deal when it arises. Her motivation? It is seen in what she does with the field. She planted a vineyard to bless the homestead.
  • V. 17. Her strength and vigor are mentioned again. “Girdeth” means she ties up her robe from around her legs and “strengthen her arms” means rolled up her sleeves.
  • V. 18-20. She works into the night, not afraid of manual labor, compassionate toward those less fortunate.
  • V. 21. In the winter it is very tempting to stay inside and just get by. Not this lady. She provides her family with warm clothes that are scarlet. This is a color that denotes royalty. She wants her family to look good.
  • V. 22. She takes personal pride in dressing nicely.
  • V. 23. Her husband is known, and the verse seems to imply it is because of this wonderful woman.
  • V. 24. We see her industriousness once again in her making a product and buyers are glad to purchase it because of the quality.
  • V. 25. Character and integrity are seen every day. She wears these two things well.
  • V. 26. Her speech honors God. First, she speaks wise things. Second, she speaks kind things. How beautiful it is to be married to a person that speaks wisdom and is kind, instead of setting on “the fire of hell” (James 3:6).
  • V. 27. The home is carefully protected and watched over. Always working to make the home a more desirable place.
  • V. 28. Her work doesn’t go unnoticed. The children recognize mom’s value, and her husband is “building,” praising her for who she is and what she does. One of the young dads in the church was talking with me the other day. He had to stay home and take care of three kids for a couple of days while his wife was away. Each kid had places to be and things to do. He told me he had a whole new appreciation for what his wife did. He couldn’t wait for her to get home so he could have a break going back to work. It is work, hard work to provide, and make a home.
  • V. 29. Her testimony was the best among all the women of Israel. Other young ladies looked at her as the standard because of her success.
  • V. 30. Her greatest asset is that she feared the Lord. She is praised for this.
  • V. 31. If you look at the life she has carved out, she has blessings in her hands and her testimony is seen without saying much.

Isn’t she a wonderful woman? That passage should be the desire and aim for the young women in the church. It should be the type of woman that the young men seek when searching for a woman. She isn’t high maintenance. Almost fifty years ago, I heard Dr. Curtis Hutson preach a message on the home. I hung on most everything he said when preaching and I was especially paying attention to this sermon because it was my aim to find just the right woman to marry. He said, “Ladies, if you’ll do four things you couldn’t run your husband off with a shotgun. One, keep a clean house. Two, cook good meals. Three, give him plenty of love and affection. Four, don’t nag.” That advice was simple yet profound. Over the last four and a half decades, I’ve thought often about that sermon. Each time I think of it, I thank God for His goodness in my life. Why? Sunday, July 28th, I will celebrate my 46th wedding anniversary with Deb. The day she walked into my life was a “good” day. I can’t read Proverbs 31 without seeing her face in almost all those verses. She has done me “good” in a million different ways. I have been blessed because of her. Our church family has been blessed because of her. Friends outside the church are blessed because of her. She makes the world a better place. Boys, if you want a life that has joy and blessing, find you a wife like Mrs. Deb. She is a Proverbs 31 gal.