Mother’s Day Proverbs 31:10-31 CrossCulture

Proverbs 31:10 10 An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.

She is busy creating a home for her family She provides food for her household (v15) She works hard (v13-19, v27) She makes sure the family members are clothed and warm (v21-22) She manages home business (v18,24), and She is an astute investor (v16)

Proverbs 31:27 (ESV) 27 She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

C. S. Lewis “I think I can understand that feeling about a housewife’s work being like that of Sisyphus (who was the stone rolling gentleman). But it is surely in reality the most important work in the world. What do ships, railways, miners, cars, government etc exist for except that people may be fed, warmed, and safe in their own homes?... We wage war in order to have peace, we work in order to have leisure, we produce food in order to eat it. So your job is the one for which all others exist…”

Adrienne Rich “The institution of Motherhood has alienated women from their bodies by incarcerating them within...motherhood as institution has ghettoized and degraded female potentialities.”

Simone de Beauvoir “All forms of socialism, wrestling woman away from the family, favour her liberation.”

Titus 2:3–5 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

Knute Larson - Holman Commentary- “Whether a woman works outside the home or not, she is to bring special grace and beauty to her home. More than any other member of the family, the woman tends to set the tone for the household. Paul is commending women who understand the importance and high priority which God has designed into the roles of mother, wife, and homemaker.”

She humbly honours her husband Proverbs 31:12 (ESV) 12 She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. Proverbs 31:23 (ESV) 23 Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.

Chiastic Structure of Proverbs 31:10-31

Proverbs 31:1 1 The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him:

She confidently knows the source of her beauty Proverbs 31:30 30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the L ORD is to be praised.

1 Peter 3:3–4 3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

George Washington "My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her."

Wife (or Mother)… She is busy creating a home for her family She humbly honours her husband She confidently knows the source of her beauty.

Husbands, treasure your wife! Proverbs 31:10 (ESV) 10 An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.

Ephesians 5:28–30 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body.

Words of affirmation Acts of service Receiving gifts Quality time Physical touch

Theodore Hesburgh “The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.”

Husbands, trust your wife! Proverbs 31:11 11 The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.

Husbands, encourage your wife Proverbs 31:28–29 (ESV) 28 Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29 “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”

Proverbs 31:31 31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

1 Peter 3:7 7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Husbands… Treasure your wife! Trust your wife! Encourage your wife!

Chiastic Poem

Acrostic Poem

John Stott “Christian marriages and Christian homes, which exhibit a combination of sexual equality and complementarity, beautifully commend the gospel; those which fall short of this ideal bring the gospel into disrepute.”