Women & Wives Series

WOMEN & WIVES

PROVERBS 19:13-14

The Book of Proverbs places the responsibility for guiding the home according to the wisdom of God not only on the husband but also on the wife. A good wife makes the home a haven where development and devotion occur.

How good it is to have a loyal, faithful, and reliable best friend. A good husband or wife is your go-to teammate who sticks by your side, helps you up when you fall, encourages you when you're down, rejoices when you succeed. How excellent it is to have a loving companion who weathers all seasons of life with you, who weathers all storms of life with you, who weathers the years with you, and knows you deeply, both the good and the bad, and still accepts and loves you. How wonderful it is to have a friend like that, and how challenging it is to be such a companion. Yes, how wonderful it is to have a godly wife or husband (CIM). What a great blessing of God!

Husbands and wives are suppose to love each and be devoted to each other. This love and devotion is to be 100 percent not only to each other, but to the Lord. When this happens God can guide them and bless their marriage. Let's look at some Proverbs that contrast godly wives with foolish ones.

Proverbs 14:1 reveals that a wife will either build or tear down her home. "The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands."

Builds refers to caring for a household and causing it to flourish. Whereas a woman of wisdom builds up her household, a woman of folly lives in such a way that her household is neglected. If she walks with the Lord, she will be a builder. If she disobeys God's wisdom, she will destroy the home's true purpose.

A "wise woman" is the one who realizes that the primary ministry of her life is to build her house. If you are a mother, you have an opportunity every day to build into lives what can have eternal impact. A foolish woman doesn't give her family the attention or energy it needs. The wise woman, on the other hand, realizes the tremendous impact she can have by discipling, praying for, loving, and encouraging her family. [Courson, Jon: Jon Courson's Application Commentary: Vol. 2. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2006, p. 217.]

Proverbs 12:4 teaches that having a capable wife is as good as being royalty. "An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who shames him is like rottenness in his bones."

Look at the wife's possibilities. She can be a crown or a cancer to her husband. A shameful wife can debilitate her husband's strength, energy and health. A capable wife brings honor to her husband and to her home. A cantankerous women saps life from her husband and her home [or church].

Proverbs 18:22 proclaims the blessing that comes from finding a godly wife. "He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord."

The favored man sought a wife with care and prayer and found what he sought. He has found a good thing, a rare jewel of incalculable value. He has found what will not only contribute more than any thing to his nurture in this life, but also will be prepare him for heaven.

God is the reason a virtuous wife is found and that fact is to be acknowledged with thankfulness. It is a demonstration of His favor, and a loving pledge of further grace. It is a sign that God has honored this man and purposed to do him great good. For what men attain is do in large part to the wife that made it possible.

Proverbs 19:13-14 contrast a contentious wife with a prudent one. "A foolish son is destruction to his father, And the contentions of a wife are a constant dripping.

What greater earthy comfort can a man have than a good wife and good children? Yet, "a foolish son" is a great affliction, and may make a man wish that he had been childless. A son that will not apply himself to study or work, that will take no advice, that lives a lewd, loose life, is "the destruction of his father," because not only does he disgrace his father, he could be the ruin of his family [Henry, Matthew: Matthew Henry's Commentary. Peabody : Hendrickson,1991, S. Pr 19:13].

The contentious wife finds some reason to make herself and those about her uneasy every day. Those accustomed to criticizing never lack something or other to scold about. It is a continual dripping, that is, a continual vexation, like a house with so many leaks you can keep it dry or the water out. This man needs a great deal of wisdom and grace to enable him to bear his affliction and do his duty, who has an stubborn son and a browbeating wife.