She might be somewhat prejudiced, but next to God she knows her child better than anyone else.
But Mothers are not perfect because sometimes in their assessment of their child, they may be wrong.
Let me illustrate…
• A picture of George Washington’s head is on the front of every dollar bill. But when George was a child, his mother told him constantly, “Georgie you do not have a head for money."
• Charles Lindberg was the first man to fly across the Atlantic alone, but his mother often said to him, “Charles, can't you do anything by yourself?"
• Neil Armstrong's mother often said, "Neil has no more business taking flying lessons than the man in the moon."
Mothers can be wrong about some things when it comes to their child, but Mothers are noted for their love for their children.
Illus: The mother of one of our President’s was asked, “You must be proud of your son?” She said, “Which one?”
Illus: Preacher G. Campbell Morgan had four sons and they all became ministers of the gospel. At a family reunion, a friend asked one of the sons, "Which Morgan is the greatest preacher?"
While that son looked at his father, he replied, "MOTHER."
Many mothers have done a lot of preaching to their children, whether they considered it preaching or not.
All the greatness that you see in the world today can be traced back to Motherhood.
• This is why the devil is robbing the homes of our Mothers, and putting them into the work force.
Why?
• Because he knows that if he can get the mothers out of the home, and place the children in front of the televisions sets, and let this Hollywood crowd raise their children, we will have the problems we are having today.
• Satan knows that if we allow our children to be taught about sex, morality and patriotism in the education system we will have the problems we are having today.
In Proverbs 31 we are given a picture of what appears to be the perfect woman.
Illus: Years ago, the beautiful Bo Derek the actress was known as a ten.
That is, if you rated women with certain physical features from 1 to 10, she was classified as a ten.
But in Proverbs 31, God shows us what he considers to be the perfect woman.
Let’s look at some of the things that this chapter talks about a WOMAN PERFECT IN THE EYES OF GOD.
That is, the first thing we want to consider is...
I. HER ABILITIES
Look at verse 10. We read, “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.”
Look at the word “Virtuous.” This is the word “Chayil,” which means SUBSTANCE.
Let me illustrate what I mean when we use the word SUBSTANCE!!!
For example, have you ever tried to find out the truth about something that has taken place, from some of these politicians?
Illus: They can talk for ten to fifteen minutes, and when they are through talking, you still do not know any more than you did to start with.
Why?
Because, their conversation does not have any substance to it. They only speak empty, meaningless words. They are only empty suits!!!
They do not have the slightest idea what they are talking about.
And similarly we have mothers today who do not have the slightest idea about what it is to be a VIRTUOUS MOTHER.
But when it comes to these GODLY MOTHERS pardon me for being so country but she is filled with some GOOD STUFF!!!
Let me share with you what kind of STUFF I am talking about. Proverbs chapter 31 tells us…
A. SHE GIVE GOOD COUNSEL TO HER CHILDREN
Proverbs 31 was written to Lemuel, (Le-muel) the king.
Who is Lemuel the king?
Since no king with the name of Lemuel can be found in the history books many theologians believe that this was written to Solomon.
They feel that Lemuel was a pet name that his mother Bathsheba had given to him as her child.
Since history does not record a king by the name of Lemuel, we are also going to assume that this was addressed to Solomon from his mother Bathsheba.
Look at some of the GOOD COUNSEL this mother gives to her son Lemuel.
Look at verse 9. This mother says to the King to be, “Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.”
Notice two things:
(1)Notice, this mother does not tell Solomon, that he has a wonderful opportunity:
• To get rich
• To establish a legacy for himself that few men have ever done before
Instead, she is saying, “Lemuel, you have an opportunity to do so much good!!!”
Then she told him how he could do good.
Notice two things:
(1) SHE REQUESTED HE JUDGE RIGHTEOUSLY
She was saying, “Solomon, you are going to have to make many decisions in your life as king. And every time you make a decision, SEEK TO MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION.”
This could be the reason that when Solomon could have requested anything he wanted of God, he requested that God give him knowledge and wisdom.
Look at 2 Chronicles 1:7-12 In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast shewed great mercy unto David my father, and hast made me to reign in his stead. Now, O LORD God, let thy promise unto David my father be established: for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great? And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king: Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like.
Wow!
Solomon could have asked for anything he wanted but he asked for WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE
God was so pleased with his request God said and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like.
You see the reason God gave these things he did not ask for to Solomon was because HE HAD HIS PRIORITES IN THE RIGHT PLACE!!!!
God told him “Ask what I shall give thee.”
If he had asked some, some would have asked for MONEY, FAME, and BEAUTY!
• Some people cannot handle money (It would be horrible for God to bless them with a lot of money!)
• Some people cannot handle fame (It would be horrible for God to bless them with a lot of fame!)
• Some people cannot handle beauty (It would be horrible for God to bless them with a lot of BEAUTY!)
In serving the Lord it is a necessity that we have our priorities in the right place if we want God to bless us.
The Bible tells us in Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Solomon was a great king that had much wisdom to make the right decisions.
But again, I want to remind you that any time you find greatness, you can usually trace it back to a godly mother or grandmother.
We can see that in the life of Solomon.
But also we can see it in the life of Timothy in the New Testament.
Look at 2 Timothy 3:14-16 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
We know from Acts 16:3 that Timothy's father was a Greek. He probably didn't know the Scriptures.
We do not know that much about Timothy’s father other than the Bible mention twice he was a Greek.
Timothy was not circumcised and that may have been because his father a Greek objected to him being circumcise since all Jews were to be circumcise. He was circumcised after he met the apostle Paul.
So Paul celebrates the great heritage that Timothy has through his mother and his grandmother. They did what his father could not or would not do.
They filled him with the Scriptures, and the Scriptures brought him eventually to faith in Christ, and faith in Christ brought him salvation.
Timothy will live forever and ever because his mother and his grandmother were faithful to Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
• Timothy was blessed to have a MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER like he had.
• But Solomon was blessed to have a mother to teach him what was valuable in life. And she told Solomon SEEK TO MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION AS KING.”
Also, in her counsel to him she requested that Solomon-
(2) PLEAD THE CAUSE OF THE POOR
Wouldn’t it be nice today if we had politicians who cared about the poor and the needy in our society?
The world is full of people who are poor and needy.
Illus: I am not talking about these lazy people who set on the road side and want work wanting a handout!
I am talking about:
• People who was born in poverty and have never been able to get away from poverty.
• People who were not fortunate to get a good education and get a good job.
• People who do not have healthy bodies to make a good living.
• People who have never had someone to help them.
And Solomon mother gave him the good advice to use his power and influence to help the poor and needy.
So often the poor and the needy suffer because of those who are in high places.
Many times the reason the rich have so much, is because they have robbed the poor.
But this virtuous mother said, “Solomon, plead the cause of the poor and the needy.”
In this age, when it seems that the only thing people care about is: SELF, ENTERTAINMENT, playing with their telephone, BEAUTY PAGEANTS, SPORTS, AND GETTING WEALTHY!!!
We need some mothers who have the ability to recognize that these things that many are pursuing have no eternal value to them whatsoever. NONE WHATSOEVER!!!
• If we see people today who live their life making no plans FOR THE FUTURE we recognize this is dumb!
• But yet this nation is filled with people who are making no ETERNAL PLANS and we consider this to be normal. No it is not…it is dumb!
And a wise mother will teach a child they are eternal beings and they need to recognize the importance of serving God.
The VALUE SYSTEM in America has been destroyed.
• What is IMPORTANT, is not IMPORTANT
• And what is not IMPORTANT, is IMPORTANT.
Our children are wasting their lives chasing after petty things that do not amount to anything, because we as parents have not taught them what is important.
We need many more mothers like Lemuel’s mother. She knew what was important, and she taught her son what was important.
SHE GAVE GOOD COUNSEL TO HER CHILDREN.
B. SHE GAVE GREAT PRIDE TO HER HUSBAND
Look at verse 11-12, we read, “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.”
Look at several things in these two verses.
(1) “THE HEART OF HER HUSBAND DOTH SAFELY TRUST IN HER…”
Listen, he knows that he lives in a world where he cannot trust a lot of folks, but he takes pride in this virtuous woman knowing:
• He can trust her to be true to her marriage vows, even when he is not around.
• He can trust her with the check book, knowing she will only spend money on the family she loves.
He can trust her with everything he has, because she is a virtuous woman that will never disappoint him.
The Bible says he, “…doth safely trust in her…”
There are a lot of things he does not feel safe about, but when it comes to this virtuous woman he married, he trusts in her.
(2) “SHE WILL DO HIM GOOD AND NOT EVIL ALL THE DAYS OF HER LIFE.”
He is sure that she is a virtuous woman, and he is thoroughly convinced that she will do him good ALL THE DAYS OF HER LIFE.
THE HOME IS HER DOMAIN
Proverbs 31 states she is "the watcher over the affairs of her household"
Notice the scriptures states the scriptures says she watches over the affairs of HER HOUSEHOLD.
Let me illustrate…
Illus: A husband would come home from work and he recognized that he was the head of the house and he wanted to completely run things the way he wanted them run.
She would often rearrange the furniture and he wanted everything to stay the way they were.
This is true he is the SPIRITUAL head of the house, but the home is a woman’s castle.
It got to be such a problem that they had to go to the pastor for counseling.
The pastor listened to him, and he listened to her.
He finally said to this husband “All day at work you make decisions at work. But you have to understand all day she has to make decisions at home.”
This is why the Bible tells us she is "the watcher over the affairs of her household"
When it is used like this, the phrase 'A Woman’s home is her castle' implies that someone can do whatever they want in their own domain or home.
We have a saying a man’s home is his castle. But actually a home is a woman’s Castle according to the scriptures.
Let me illustrate of a house wife who years ago wrote to the columnist Ann Landers.
The letter goes like this…
Illus: I'm so tired of all those ignorant people who come up to my husband and ask him if his wife has a full-time job or if she's "just a house-wife." . . . Here's my job description.
I'm a wife, mother, friend, confidant, personal advisor, lover, referee, peacemaker, housekeeper, laundress, chauffeur, interior decorator, gardener, painter, wall paperer, dog groomer, veterinarian, manicurist, barber, seamstress, appointment manager, financial planner, bookkeeper, money manager, personal secretary, teacher, disciplinarian, entertainer, psychoanalyst, nurse, diagnostician, public relations expert, dietitian and nutritionist, baker, chef, fashion coordinator and letter writer for both sides of the family.
I am also a travel agent, speech therapist, plumber and automobile maintenance and repair expert . . .
From the studies done, it would cost more than $75,000 a year to replace me. I took time out of my busy day to write this letter, Ann, because there are still ignorant people who believe a housewife is nothing more than a baby sitter who sits on her behind all day and looks at soap operas. (Ann Landers, May 1988, quoted in Mom,
We have looked at her ABILITIES, but also look at-
II. HER ASSETS
Notice, this virtuous woman has many good qualities. We can see that in many ways in Proverbs 31.
It is evident that she loved her family.
For example, we see that SHE is WILLING TO WORK FOR HER FAMILY.
Look at verses 13-22, we read, “She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.”
Many of the things that we read about in these scriptures are there because she is using her hands to provide for them.
The old saying is still true, “A mother’s work is never done.”
Notice, she uses her hands to help her family.
Also look at verse 20, we read, “She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.”
She not only uses her hands to help her family, she also uses them to help the POOR and the NEEDY.
Illus: Dwight Eisenhower got angry as a child when growing up, because his brothers and sisters were going to go somewhere, but he couldn’t go. He went into a fit of rage, and went out and begins hitting a tree with his bare fist. He hit the tree so hard, that blood began to run out of his hands.
His father came out and disciplined him, and sent him to his room.
Later his mother came with some cream for his bruised hands. She took her loving hands, and put the cream on his hands. As she did, she began talking to him and teaching him about controlling his feelings.
He later said, “Of all the peace treaties I have been involved in, non-compared to that which my mother and I had when she loved me so much that day.”
In verse 20, we read, “She stretcheth out her hand….”
• She stretched out her hands to help her family
• She stretched out her hands to help the needy
We looked at her:
I.Abilities
II.Assets
but look at-
III. HER APPEARANCE
Look at verse 25. We read, “Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.”
Notice, that STRENGTH and HONOUR are her clothing. That is, when you look at this virtuous woman, what you see is a woman of STRENGTH and HONOUR.
• She does not go along with the crowd, she lives a life of STRENGTH and HONOR
• She does not allow the world to do her thinking for her, she is a woman of STRENGTH
Illus: Susan Shelley writes in Marriage Partnership, "I was thrilled when the doctor told me our baby-to-be was a boy. I decided to keep the news a secret because I wanted to see Marshall's face when our son was delivered.”
In the fifth month, our doctor recommended a Level II ultrasound. As I lay on the examining table, Dr. Silver manipulated the ultrasound, measuring the cranium and the femur and viewing the internal organs. We all watched the embryonic motions. “Is everything okay?” Marshall asked.
“Let me complete the examination, and I'll give you a full report,” the doctor said. I hoped his evasive answer was merely his standard procedure.
Moments later, Dr. Silver announced his observations in a matter-of-fact voice. “We have some problems. The fetus has a malformed heart--the aorta is attached incorrectly. There are missing portions of the cerebellum. A club foot. A cleft palate and perhaps a cleft lip. Possibly spina bifida. This is probably a case of Trisomy 13 or Trisomy 18. In either case, it is a condition incompatible with life.”
Neither Marshall nor I could say anything. So Dr. Silver continued. “It's likely the fetus will spontaneously miscarry. If the child is born, it will not survive long outside the womb. You need to decide if you want to try and carry this pregnancy to term.”
We both knew what he was asking. My soul was shaken by the news, but I knew clearly what I was to do.
“God is the giver and taker of life,” I said. “If the only opportunity I have to know this child is in my womb, I don't want to cut that time short. If the only world he is to know is the womb, I want that world to be as safe as I can make it.” (Leadership, Vol. 17, no. 3)
Thank the Lord for the mothers who have the STRENGTH and HONOUR to face these difficult decisions, and think not of themselves, but of the children.
We hear so much today from these liberal mothers, who say, “No one has a right to tell me what I am going to do with my body. It is my choice!”
Well, they are wrong, God has that right!
Abortion is not about the MOTHER, it is about the killing of a helpless baby that can’t do one thing to defend itself.
When a woman becomes pregnant with a child, God has entrusted her to carry that child in her womb.
She needs to ask the Lord for STRENGTH to do the HONOURABLE thing that God has entrusted to her to do.
Conclusion:
Now we come to the close of this chapter that deals with a virtuous woman.
Look at verse 28. “Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.”
That is exactly what we have come here to do today. We praise all the virtuous mothers across the world today.
Everything we are, we owe to them!
I. HER ABILITIES
II. HER ASSETS
III. HER APPEARANCE
