The value of the virtuous woman

[KHADINE BECKFORD]

The value of the virtuous woman.

First, her value is seen in her virtuosity. "Who can find a virtuous woman?" asked the writer, "for her price is far above rubies" and "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised" (vs. 10; 30). Value can be determined by contribution. In the case of the virtuous woman, she greatly contributes to her husband, children, the poor, society, and to herself (vs. 11, 12, cp. 12: 4; 15; 20; 24; 17, 22). Be impressed, dear reader, with the fact that the woman is praised for qualities that she herself has developed! The value of women to any culture, society, and the church of Christ cannot be over emphasized. Women can contribute to overall goodness and moral integrity or they can tear down and destroy. Women are often more resistant to moral decay and, therefore, serve as a restraint. When women "become one of the boys," so to speak, society is in for trouble (much of what is happening today). God's ideal woman stands in sharp contrast with the too often modern woman with her tattoos, cursing, and selfish and shallow promiscuous lifestyle.