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A Good Wife and Mother
by Bryan Gibson
October 29, 2009
We’re not interested in the world’s description—only God’s. Here is God’s description of a good wife and mother.
She is beautiful on the INSIDE, possessing such qualities as faith, love, wisdom, discretion, graciousness, reverence, meekness, self-control, purity, holiness, etc. (Proverbs 14:1; 11:16; Ephesians 5:22-33; 1 Timothy 2:15; 3:11; Titus 2:3-5; 1 Peter 3:1-6). She is concerned with her outward appearance (Proverbs 31:22), but she is more concerned with the beauty that doesn’t fade (1 Peter 3:4; 1 Timothy 2:9-10; Proverbs 31:30).
She loves her husband (Titus 2:3-4), not just “in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). In other words, she doesn’t just say it; she demonstrates it—in a number of ways. “She does him good...all the days of her life” (Proverbs 31:12). In her mind (and the Lord’s), his needs are just as important as hers (Philippians 2:3-4). The love she has for him “suffers long and is kind...does not envy...does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
She doesn’t just love her husband; she respects him, especially in his role as head of the house (Ephesians 5:22-24, 33). She discusses matters with him, but she carefully avoids becoming contentious (Proverbs 21:9, 19; 27:15-16). Because final decisions rest with him, she willingly submits to him, even when she disagrees (Ephesians 5:24; Titus 2:5; 1 Peter 3:5-6).
She may not be the head of the house, but she is the manager (1 Timothy 5:14; Titus 2:4-5; Proverbs 31:27), and she takes this God given role seriously. Her husband should be willing to help with household responsibilities, but he is not nearly as well equipped for this job as she is. God knows what He is doing.
She knows her children are a gift from God, and so she gives them back to Him (1 Samuel 1:11). Together with her husband, she brings them up in the ways of the Lord (1 Timothy 2:11-15; 1 Timothy 5:9-10; 2 Timothy 1:5; 3:14). She teaches her children, by word and by example. She trains them the same way God trains us—she praises them when they do well, and corrects them when they do wrong. When she says, “I have no greater joy than to see my children walk in truth” (3 John 1:4), she means it.
She is a very busy woman, but she still finds time to help with the needs of others (Proverbs 31:20; 1 Timothy 5:10). She shows hospitality; she visits the sick; she comforts the bereaved; she encourages the weak; she does all the good she can, by all the means she can, in all the ways she can, in all the places she can, at all the times she can, to all the people she can, as long as she can.