She doeth him good and not evil...

I know it shouldn't surprise us when we find that God's Word becomes deeper and more meaningful to us every time we study it, but sometimes it still amazes me just how much wisdom is packed into the smallest detail of the shortest verse! Our Creator certainly knows just what we need. I have really been enjoying this study... even if I am a day late (hopefully not a dollar short!) with my post this week. :)

Proverbs 31:12
She doeth him good and not evil All the days of her life.

There is so much that could be said about the many different ways that we can do good to our husbands. A thousand different areas could be discussed, and I know there are a lot of important "good deeds" that I haven't thought of and probably should, but this time I'm going to focus on a different aspect of this verse.

The concept that good is something you DO is very interesting to me. Of course we should always be striving to have good thoughts, etc. But in this usage, good is not something you think about and stop there. Though I'm not married yet (79 days!), this still has a lot of applicability to me. I have a bad tendency to have all the good intentions in the world and then not quite follow through all the way. It reminds me of James 2:15, 16

If a brother or sister be naked and in lack of daily food, and one of you say unto them,
Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; and yet ye
give them not the things needful to the body; what doth it profit?

I know the greater context here is talking about faith and works being intertwined, but the example definitely also applies to doing good to our husbands (or anyone else, for that matter). Do we have nice words or thoughts, but never follow through, even in regular, everyday things? Intentions to be kind and good which never bear any fruit? Doing good for our husbands can include the simplest things like having clean clothes for him to wear and good food for him to eat. I don't know of anyone who absolutely loves doing load after load of laundry. But do we put it off and let it sit around so long that it somehow gets dirty again before it ever leaves the basket? (Yes... in case you're wondering... I've done that before. *hangs head*) Maybe it's stretching just a tiny bit, but consider James 2:15, 16 with the husband/wife relationship inserted...

If your husband be naked and in lack of daily food, and you say to him,
Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; and yet you
don't give him the things his body needs; what does it profit?

I think the point is pretty clear that good is something we have to constantly work at doing... not just thinking about doing. That's a lesson that I need to learn.

I had a lot (and I mean a lot) more to say about this verse, but I'm trying really hard to keep these posts on the shorter/manageable side! :) Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Proverbs 31:11

Proverbs 31:11
"The heart of her husband trusteth in her,
And he shall have no lack of gain."

What does it mean for the heart of a husband to trust in his wife? I think the idea here is that the virtuous woman's husband has complete confidence in her. Her whole way of life is so open, dependable and honorable that he is never given any reason to doubt her! What peace this gives to not only her husband, but her entire family! I believe that no matter our station or position in life, each of us as Christians should strive to be transparent. Not transparent as in we let out every emotion we feel or anything like that, but we should be a guileless people. Those around us should be able to tell that we are what we say we are; that we are trustworthy.

So many other thoughts can be gleaned from this one passage, and I had a lot of tangents going in my mind! I love this quote from Matthew Henry's Commentary. He expresses so beautifully some of the thoughts I had.

(1.) She conducts herself so that he may repose an entire confidence in her. He trusts in her chastity, which she never gave him the least occasion to suspect or to entertain any jealousy of; she is not morose and reserved, but modest and grave, and has all the marks of virtue in her countenance and behaviour; her husband knows it, and therefore his heart doth safely trust in her; he is easy, and makes her so. He trusts in her conduct, that she will speak in all companies, and act in all affairs, with prudence and discretion, so as not to occasion him either damage or reproach. He trusts in her fidelity to his interests, and that she will never betray his counsels nor have any interest separate from that of his family. When he goes abroad, to attend the concerns of the public, he can confide in her to order all his affairs at home, as well as if he himself were there. She is a good wife that is fit to be trusted, and he is a good husband that will leave it to such a wife to manage for him.

(2.) She contributes so much to his content and satisfaction that he shall have no need of spoil; he needs not be griping and scraping abroad, as those must be whose wives are proud and wasteful at home. She manages his affairs so that he is always before-hand, has such plenty of his own that he is in no temptation to prey upon his neighbours. He thinks himself so happy in her that he envies not those who have most of the wealth of this world; he needs it not, he has enough, having such a wife. Happy the couple that have such a satisfaction as this in each other!

I love those last two sentences. Isn't that a wonderful goal? What a beautiful and encouraging picture portrayed for us of the excellent wife, and what a challenge to us all for improvement!