Women's Retreat Session 3- Moisturizer & SPF

  • Dec 4, 2005
  • Series: Women

    We concluded last session examining the general role of women. This role is revealed throughout scripture. In specific, we looked at Adam, Eve, Creation, covenants established by God, and submission.

    This session will take the step from establishing our general responsibility to specific and practical ways we are to live this out. There are really two questions that we set out to answer today:

    1. What specific responsibilities do we, as women, need to keep?
    2. How does this work out practically?

    To answer these questions, let us examine the Proverbs 31 Woman.

    • Proverbs 31 was written from a mother to her son, with clear instruction for how to select a Godly wife:

    • With her, you will spend your lifetime, she will determine your earthly accomplishments and set the perimeters of your living and your influence

    • Proverbs 12:31 says “A wife of noble character is her husband's crown,
    but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.”

    • Proverbs 19:14 says “Houses and wealth are inherited from parents,
    but a prudent wife is from the Lord .”

    • Paul refers to this woman in 1 Titus 2:3-5 “ 3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”

    Proverbs 31:10-31

    • The woman described here is of priceless value. She has physical strength, mental strength, moral strength and spiritual strength.

    • Above all, she loves God deeply and reverently.

    • She is characterized in six ways that we will discuss:

    • Her character as a wife

    • Her devotion as a homemaker

    • Her generosity as a neighbor

    • Her influence as a teacher

    • Her effectiveness as a mother

    • Her excellence as a person

    • This is the woman that every woman should seek to emulate

    • Verse 10: “A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies”

    • This is a woman of substance and strength spiritually, morally, mentally and physically

    • Who can find this wife? She is more valuable than all earthly things. She is a rare fortune

    • Verse 11: “Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value”

    • Without saying anything about her, it talks about her husband. He trusts her implicitly. This speaks volumes about her

    • He has absolute confidence in her integrity, her discretion, her wisdom, faithfulness, trustworthiness, and her care for all of his interests

    • The implication here is that there is a substantial home to be cared for and substantial resources of which she is steward

    • She is virtuous to the point where he has no jealousy, no fear, no suspicion, no anxiety

    • She manages the assets, she coordinates the activities

    • He knows that his care is her concern, his comfort is her passion and his burdens are hers to relieve

    • In other words, she is not going to cause him to lose what he has worked so hard to gain

    • She is a very careful steward of everything he has

    • Verse 12: “She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life”

    • She always does what's best for him

    • She pursues his best interests

    • She strengthens him

    • She builds him up

    • She encourages him

    • She never speaks evil of him so that those in the home would learn to distrust him because of her testimony of his absence of character

    • Then it adds: all the days of her life

    • In other words, her love for him is based upon such high spiritual principles that it doesn't fluctuate with the circumstances of life

    • Her love is so deep it has a purity and a power and a devotion that never ever changes

    • His comfort, his success, his reputation, his joy, his fulfillment, his blessings are her delight. She is utterly unselfish

    • She is never unkind and always submissive in the most gracious way

    • Verse 23: “ Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.”

    • He has risen to the very top of the esteem of the people in the profession he has chosen in life, and he is free to do so because of his dutiful wife

    • She creates a world for him in which he can be everything that God would want him to be

    • She has provided freedom from the things which tie him down and bind him so that he can be everything that he is called to be

    • The underlying virtue here is selflessness. She is consumed with him and offers herself in loving service to fulfill that desire

    • Not only her character as a wife makes her excellent, but her devotion as a homemaker as well

    • The sphere of the woman's duty is the home.

    • As should be obvious, the homeward orientation does not mean that a woman is bound to her home but instead works from it as the central concern of her life and strives to have all her endeavors build the holiness of her home and extend its' influence to the ends of the earth

    • 1 Timothy 5: 9-10 “No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, [ 1 ] 10 and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds”

    • For the woman, her curse is related to her domain of home building that includes being a wife and mother (Genesis 3:16, Proverbs 9:1, 14:1, 31:27, Titus 2:3-5, 1 Timothy 5:14)

    • Verse 13: “She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands”

    • She makes garments, bedding, etc.

    • The idea being she searches for the quality product, she finds the best she can and brings it back with the purpose of using her hands to turn it into clothing

    • She is full of energy and activity for her home

    • Verse 14: “She is like merchant ships, bringing her food from afar”

    • She gets the best food at the best price

    • She seeks out variety

    • She is a nutritionist; she serves healthy food and understands the affects of food on her family

    • Verse 15: “She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls”

    • She wakes early to provide for her husband, children, those in her home

    • ‘Portions' probably means portions of ‘work', not portions of ‘food'

    • She is up early managing her household and providing for her family

    • Verse 16: She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard

    • She is an enterprising woman

    • She did her research and made a wise decision to help her family prosper

    • She plants a vineyard, which includes managing the labor of the vineyard and earning extra income for her family

    • Where did she get the money for this venture? Look at verse 24

    • Verse 24: ” She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes”

    • She never let that extra money get into the operational cash flow, she kept it set apart and when she saw a judicious moment to purchase a field to the benefit of the family, she purchased it and planted the vineyard

    • She is a wise steward, careful money manager and a good analyst

    • Verse 17: “She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks”

    • She's a strong woman; strongly disciplined, strong in terms of commitment to her family, strong in love to her husband

    • Her arms are strong because of the effort exerted in the daily tasks. Her strength is the result of effort

    • Verse 18: “She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night”

    • She is so fulfilled in the benefit that is coming to family because of her wise and diligent work, that she is encouraged to work harder and harder

    • Verse 19: “In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers”

    • Perhaps on those late nights when the lamp didn't go out, she works selflessly for her family. With the distaff and spindle she turns the wool and flax into thread. She turns the thread into cloth, She cuts the cloth into patterns, then sews it into garments to clothe the family

    • Verse 21: “When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet”

    • She plans ahead for the cold season. Her family is well clothed The scarlet is added to show you that this woman has a touch of class

    • Verse 22: “She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple”

    • She has made her home and herself beautiful

    • She adorned all their beds with comfort and beauty, providing for her family the comfort they would enjoy

    • Her clothing are fine linen and purple, not silk and gold and pearls, etc. Just linen; expensive and high quality but not showy

    • She avoids ostentatious display and opts out for graceful simplicity. She knows that a woman's true adornment is her purity, her chaste character, her virtue, her godliness, her inner beauty, as mentioned by Peter in 1 Peter 3:1-6 “ 1 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4 Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful.”

    • She cares for her body, making herself beautiful for her husband. 1 Corinthians 7:4 “The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.”

    • Verse 20: “She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy”

    • She expresses compassion on all those who don't have her privileges

    • She is personally involved, intimately involved with the poor and unfortunate

    • She reaches out to those by feeding them, clothing them, and enriching their lives through her resources

    • She is engulfed in her family but that's not all; she's not myopic. She cares about others too

    • Verse 25: “She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come”

    • She is a woman of great character; strong and dignified

    • Her strength comes from her spiritual character which is the foundation of her teaching

    • She smiles at the future. She has no fear because she knows in whom she trusts and that all things are in God's hands

    • Verse 26: “She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue”

    • She is well studied in the bible; she is a theologian

    • She is raising her children to know and fear the Lord (teaching them Proverbs)

    • The attitude in which she teaches all of this is a dominant attitude of loving kindness

    • Verse 27: “She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness”

    • She exercises constant surveillance over her home

    • She manages the children well, and all the resources well

    • She is not eating the product of laziness; she is eating the product of effort

    • She's got it all under control; she meets every need

    • Verse 28: “Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her”

    • Their mother is constantly before their eyes with her holy example

    • Her children reverence her, honor her, hold her in high esteem

    • As her children become older, they have their own children and they seek to raise their children as they were raised

    • Her husband also praises and honors her through his love (see next verse)

    • Verse 29: “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all”

    • She invested in her husband and he returns the love

    • Many women have strength, force, and godly character but he esteems her as the best of all

    • Verse 30: “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised”

    • Charm means ‘bodily form' in Hebrew.

    • Some women spend all their time on their bodily form…that is deceitful

    • Her excellence as a person all starts with her spiritual dimension

    • This woman loves God; she's a true worshiper and fears the Lord

    • Verse 31: “Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate”

    Conclusion

    • This is the woman that God designed, that every man should desire, and that every woman should desire to be. One who is true to her mate, one who manages her home well, one who compassionately cares for the needy. One who lives and teaches divine wisdom and kindness, compassion and grace, one who fully fulfills the call of a mother so that her children bless her. And one who, though she seeks no praise, will receive it anyway because of the character of her life
    • In living out the role that God designed for us as women, we are glorifying our awesome God. Our role as a homemaker, teacher, mother, neighbor, etc. is our way of living out Christ's gospel.
    • As Ephesians 5:25-27 says “ 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” we as women are called to respond as stated in Ephesians 5:22-24 “ 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything”
    • The Godhead is the design for our marriage and the gospel is lived through our relationships as God so perfectly designed. 1 Corinthians 11:3 “ 3 Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God”

    Recommended Reading List

    • Praise Her At the Gates, Nancy Wilson
    • The Fruit of Her Hands, Nancy Wilson
    • Reforming Marriage, Douglas Wilson
    • Shepherding a Child's Heart, Tedd Tripp
    • Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, John Piper & Wayne Grudem
    • The Hidden Art of Homecoming, Edith Schaeffer
    • Calm My Anxious Heart, Linda Dillow
    • Creative Counterpart, Linda Dillow
    • Power of a Praying Wife, Stormie O'Martian
    • Intended for Pleasure, Ed Wheat

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