A Worthy Woman
A Worthy Woman
Proverbs 31:10-31
Introduction
A. Things my mother taught me
1. Logic: ‘If you fall out of that tree and break your neck, you can’t go to the store with me!’
2. Medicine: ‘If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they’re going to freeze that way’
3. To think ahead: ‘If you don’t pass your spelling test, you’ll never get a good job’
4. Intuition: ‘Put your sweater on; don’t you think that I know when you’re cold’
5. To meet a challenge: ‘What were you thinking? Answer me when I talk to you! Don’t talk back to me!’
6. Humor: ‘When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me!’
7. Genetics: ‘You’re just like your father!’
8. Anticipation: ‘Just wait until your father gets home!’
9. Justice: ‘One day you’ll have children, and I hope they turn out just like YOU! Then you’ll see what it’s like!’
B. Truth is, we’ve all learned a lot from our mothers
1. A double blessing is ours who where blessed with a Christian mother
2. Take a moment today to thank God for all you learned from your mother
C. Today, we honor ‘mothers’ … our text will be Proverbs 31:10-31
1. These verses are an ‘acrostic’, each verse begins with a different Hebrew letter in the order of the Hebrew alphabet
2. The most famous OT ‘acrostic’ is Psalm 119 (eight verses per letter in Hebrew alphabet)
3. This passage pays tribute to the honor and dignity of women and the importance of the mother in the home (Zodhiates, Key Study Bible, p. 874).
I. Wife
A. Marriage is REQUIRED by God!
1. In order to be a ‘good mother’ you must be married
2. There are three eligible groups of marriage partners
a. Never been married before
b. Spouse has died
c. Spouse has been unfaithful sexually
B. The proverb says, “An excellent wife”
1. It is a high honor for a woman to be chosen to be the wife of a good and true man
2. Great power is placed in her hands
3. The destinies of her children are placed in her control
4. Her husbands places his trust in her
II. Mother
A. Provides for her household (v. 15,21)
B. Teaches her household (v. 26,27)
C. Her children rise up and bless her (v. 28)
III. Career
A. Notice all the ‘verbs’
1. ‘Works’ with her hands in delight
2. ‘Brings’ her food from afar
3. ‘Gives’ food to her household
4. ‘Plants’ a vineyard
5. Her hands ‘grasp’ the spindle
6. ‘Extends’ her hand to the poor
7. ‘Makes’ coverings for herself
8. ‘Supplies’ belts to the tradesmen
B. This is one busy woman
1. Many women have ‘opted’ to have a career at the expense of their family
2. This proverb shows a woman is capable of handling both…a career and a family.
Conclusion
A. The source of this ‘strength’ and reason for this ‘honor’
1. ‘She does not eat the bread of idleness’ (v. 27)
2. She ‘fears the Lord’ (v. 30)
B. What others have said about ‘mothers’
1. “All that I am, or can be, I owe to my angel mother” (Abraham Lincoln).
2. “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world” (John Gray).
3. “If you reform the world from its errors and vices, begin by enlightening its mothers” (Simmons).
C. Thanx Mom
1. The highest calling
2. The highest responsibility
3. “Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship fall; a mother’s secret love outlives them all” (Oliver Wendell Holmes).
D. This has not been a ‘come to Jesus’ sermon
1. However, many of us can personally trace our Christian heritage directly to our mothers
2. Make your mother proud … trust in the Lord … express your trust through obedience … put your Lord on in baptism