More Precious Than Jewels

Proverbs 19:14(ESV)
“House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.”

In Old Testament times, wealth and possessions went from father to son. A daughter was not allowed to inherit her father’s wealth, so she did not receive an inheritance, only a dowry that she could bring into her new marriage. An inheritance meant a great deal to sons and gave them confidence that they could begin their own families with some degree of stable footing. Leaving an inheritance was the best that a biological father could do, but receiving it is no guarantee for a fulfilling and happy life with a wife. Proverbs 19:14 tells us that only God can give a man a wise, understanding, and sensible wife. For women, this is information we can’t afford to miss.

God is the One that causes the paths of two individuals to cross. He is the One who knows exactly what it will take to bless our lives. Although many of us think we know everything about who the right person is for us, we do not. In Jeremiah 17:10(NLT), Heavenly Father tells us, “But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” When the disciples were praying about a replacement for Judas, Acts 1:24(NLT) says, “Then they all prayed, “O Lord, you know every heart. Show us which of these men you have chosen.” They understood that they could not make a decision with their own sense knowledge. They surrendered to God’s Will and needed to hear from Him because He, and He alone, knows the secret motives of every heart. We would do well to remember this so that we will seek God only when it comes to marrying the right one for our lives.

A prudent wife

A prudent wife is going to know what to do when the man or the children are ill. She’s perceptive, so she knows and recognizes signs when someone isn’t feeling well and needs medical attention. A prudent wife is not selfish because she knows that selfishness and bitterness ruin relationships. Giving and pouring into her family is always on her mind, and she always puts God first. A prudent wife prays all the time, and she recognizes that a persistent and quality prayer life keeps her relationship with God tight, and therefore, keeps her life blessed and in balance. She walks by the Spirit, and never gets ahead of his counsel. This is what makes her special.

A prudent woman understands that in order to be a prudent wife, she must divorce her single life and not try to hang on to her single days. This is a challenge for many modern women. We’re in love with our closet space, and never thought of making room for two as a sign that our faith and actions are working together. We never thought of learning to cook as a way of showing God we’re willing to make sacrifices for the good of our future marital union, so that if hubby can’t cook, at least we can make a banging omelet. As a prudent woman seeking marriage, you can’t just pray about what you desire, you’ve got to be thinking about what your husband might desire as well. Your life has to prove you’re confident that God will deliver on His promises. Your faith, actions, and confessions must all be on the same page.

An excellent wife
Proverbs 31:10(ESV) says, “An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.” At one time, the self esteem of a lot of women tanked because of baked-in societal norms of inequities and mistreatment. To compensate, there’s now an over exaggeration of a woman’s value and worth in some arenas. Society pushes for selfish indulgences, and there’s all this talk about queenship. A woman cannot make herself a queen, and this is something we would do well to learn very quickly. Only God can give us a crown, and He does not do that lightly.

We can’t have an over exaggerated sense of self-worth, because that will lead us to arrogance, and arrogance will kill any blessing that we’re hoping to receive. Many of us expect the man to automatically assume we’re a queen and treat us that way, when there’s not enough of the love of Christ in our hearts to make us royalty. It’s God who assigns worth and judges us faithful according to the standard He alone has set. An excellent wife knows this.

Many of us haven’t prayed to God to teach us to be an excellent wife. We’ve not prayed to be accelerated in spiritual preparation so that we can marry soon. We haven’t developed the maturity to hear what the Lord is saying, fix what He says to fix and hone what He says to hone, so that we’re ready to be presented with the man He sends. An excellent wife has delighted in being prepared by God through His Word and the Holy Spirit. She has her eyes open spiritually, and this makes her priceless.

Sometimes we make decisions and choices without being patient to hear from God. We still have more work to do to be the prudent and excellent wife that God wants us to be. The problem is that many of us don’t think so. We’re not interested in hearing what God says on the matter, so ultimately, we self-sabotage. We can avoid this. We don’t have to mess things up for ourselves when it comes to our significant relationship with the one God will send. He would not tell us to be prudent and excellent if it were not possible. Remember, you’re not trying to be a prudent and excellent wife for every man, only for the one that is right for you. Pray on that. Pray that the Lord continues to polish you so that you’re seen as the most precious jewel in the eyes of your beloved. Pray that you will be a prudent and excellent wife that comes from the Lord.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28

Finding A Christian Man

Christian Advice, Devotions, and Encouragement for Single Women