Our Favorite Proverbs: Proverbs 31:10,30

by David Chadwick

“An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.”

Proverbs 31:10

“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”

Proverbs 31:30

Let’s wrap up our week by looking at two verses from Proverbs 31 that describe a godly wife. As you may know, Proverbs 31 is an entire chapter dedicated to describing a godly woman, or as the Jewish culture describes, “a woman of valor.”

What makes an excellent wife? She is a true woman of valor. Her heart is for you, and her life’s allegiance is to Jesus. She loves Jesus with all her heart, soul, mind, and might. She desires a biblical, Christ-centered marriage–one that lasts forever with the back door locked from the outside.

For you men, this kind of wife is FAR more precious than jewels. She chooses to love all the days of her life. This is a woman who is far more valuable than your financial portfolio. Yes, even if you have millions of dollars in it!

Again, yes, an excellent wife IS hard to find. But don’t give up. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). Keep searching for her. Keep praying for her. And when she is found, don’t ever let her go!

As you watch and wait, also realize that a woman may possess great charm, winsomeness, and beauty, but this is NOT the foundation upon which you build a long-term, Christlike marriage.

Outward beauty fails and eventually fades away. As my dad once told me, “Son, marry a woman with beautiful insides more than beautiful outsides.” He knew that outward beauty, outward “stuff,” fades. But inward beauty will never fade. Indeed, it will only grow and grow!

I’m fortunate to have married a beautiful woman inside and out. But it's her inward beauty that I value most. And that beauty has only grown and grown through the years. This is what all men who follow Jesus should find most attractive.

Picture yourself still holding hands with your spouse and with Jesus after decades of Jesus’s grace and love filling your hearts. It’s an eternal legacy every follower of Jesus should desire!

Our Favorite Proverbs: Proverbs 19:14

by David Chadwick

“House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.”

Proverbs 19:14

Today’s proverb makes it very clear that prudence is a characteristic of a godly wife. The word “prudent” means “to act with or show care, wisdom, and thought for the future, particularly in managing practical affairs or avoiding risks.”

The verse starts off acknowledging that a home and financial wealth can come through family inheritance. While fathers, especially, most often work incredibly hard to create a generational blessing and legacy for their children and grandchildren, it is the Lord who gives a prudent wife.

A prudent wife is a gift from the Lord. She is wise, careful, self-restrained, and diligent. A woman like this is a “grace gift” from God. Whereas fathers may leave house and wealth, this verse implies the Lord gives a man a prudent wife to know how to increase the family’s assets because of her prudence.

While not fearful or anxious, a prudent wife calculates decision-making with purpose and precision. She brings wisdom to home management, investments, and financial oversight. She offers good perspectives on decision-making. She is able to process alongside her husband in regard to how to make the best decisions for their family and their future.

In our home, my Marilynn has overseen a lot of family management, which has been a special blessing to me. Her wise and prudent oversight has not only brought about family and financial favor, but her prudence in this area has freed me to do the ministry God has called me to do. Without her, I’d be nothing.

For you men, while a home and wealth are wonderful gifts to leave to your children and your children’s children, the best gift you can leave to the world is a prudent wife, someone who pours into and blesses your home in intangible ways.

Our Favorite Proverbs: Proverbs 18:22

by David Chadwick

“He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.”

Proverbs 18:22

Today’s proverb is found in Proverbs 18:22. It says finding a good wife finds favor from the Lord.

First, take note how God calls marriage “a good thing” in his Word! As the Creator of the universe, God has intentionally woven his goodness throughout all of creation, marriage being one of those things.

Secondly, in today’s verse, notice that it’s one man who finds “a wife.” One wife. It does not say multiple wives. Do you think Solomon may have learned his lesson on how hard it was to have multiple wives? This verse certainly makes you wonder.

The emphasis on “one wife” refers back to the beauty of Genesis 2:24 and God’s original intent. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

Since the beginning of time, God’s design for marriage has been two people in a long-term, committed, forever, heterosexual union. Not only is this God’s will, but when marriage is done his way, it becomes something over which God rejoices. And is beautiful beyond words.

This kind of lasting marriage brings God’s favor. It brings his blessing. It invokes miracles. It is a union in which God’s power and presence reside.

Now, after almost 50 years of faithful marriage to one woman, I see this truth more than ever. I can look back over my life with Marilynn and see God’s presence and providence in so many different areas. I see where his guiding hand blessed us in so many different ways because of our faithfulness to him and to one another.

We chose to forgive when we were angry. We kept moving forward in our callings when we wanted to give up. We have seen his divine power flow to and through us as we have sought to reach a broken world with the gospel of Jesus. Our marriage truly is a “good thing.”

If you are married, I pray that your marriage experiences the goodness of God and shows his goodness to others for generations to come.