5 Ways Christians Can Remain Clothed in Strength and Dignity
Although written to help men celebrate the accomplished women in their lives, the lessons of diligence, integrity, and altruism in Proverbs 31 transcend gender and can serve as guidelines for both men and women.
Here are 5 ways for Christians to clothe themselves in strength and dignity:
1. Ā Be trustworthy.Ā Proverbs 31 ties dignity to trustworthiness (Proverbs 31:11). To act with dignity includes being truthful in your words and deeds. Be dependable and let your word be reliable so that your āyesā means āyesā and your ānoā means ānoā (Matthew 5:37).
2. Show trust in your spouse. In a similar way, trust your spouse in a sensible way. The Proverbs 31 man āhas full confidenceā in his trustworthy wife (Proverbs 31:11). Ask yourself if youāre quick to second-guess or micromanage your spouse despite knowing that your spouse has sound judgment or expertise in a matter thatās less familiar to you.
3. Keep active to maintain well-ordered priorities.Ā The Proverbs 31 ideal person knows that it takes dedicated effort to keep a household and business running efficiently. This person āworks with eager handsā (Proverbs 31:13), considers options and then decisively acts upon them (Proverbs 31:16), and remains watchful of her responsibilities by not sinking into idleness (Proverbs 31:27). This model spouse is also a model citizen, helping the poor through altruistic deeds.
Like the Proverbs 31 ideal, similarly filling your days with fruitful acts will help you keep your priorities aligned with how God wants us to live and interact with one another.
4. Praise your spouse, inside and outside the home.Ā Proverbs 31 counsels men to honor their wives for āall that [their] hands have done, and let [their] works bring [them] praise at the city gateā (Proverbs 31:31). Spouses should praise each otherās efforts and respect each otherās opinions even when they donāt see eye to eye. Doing so not only shows honor for one another, but teaches children the value of respect and gratitude (Proverbs 31:28).
As important as it is to model respect for each other inside the home, spouses should also respect each other outside the home. Spouses shouldnāt malign each other to friends and family or make comments at each otherās expense.
Likewise, weāre not to remain silent in the face of someone speaking ill of our spouse. Rather, weāre to treasure our spouse āmore than rubiesā by sticking up for our spouse so that he or she receives only praise āat the city gate,ā i.e. outside the home (Proverbs 31:31).
5. Trust in Godās plan for you.Ā Proverbs 31 ends with the pivotal point that the ideal spouse is praised first and foremost because of her faithfulness to God (Proverbs 31:30). This foundation of faith gives the model spouse such a settling sense of peace that āsheĀ can laugh at the days to comeā because she trusts in Godās plan for her (Proverbs 31:25).
For anyone today who wrings their hands in worry over the futureās unpredictability, following this plan toward peace offers a much more reassuring way to live!
