December 29 is our thirtieth wedding anniversary. God has blessed me beyond measure through Beth – and more and more with each succeeding year. In honor of this event, consider these excerpts from Proverbs 31.  I preached on this passage three years ago under the title “The Valiant Wife” (audio is here); an edited version of the conclusion to that sermon follows .

Proverbs 31:10-12, 25-31  10 An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.  11 The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.  12 She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. . . .  25 Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.  26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.  27 She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.  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.”  30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.  31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

God has granted me a valiant, excellent wife who displays strength and wisdom daily. She fears the Lord; she loves His Word; she is generous with her time and energy. Self-indulgence is far from her. She provides for her household with material goods, with fragrant smells, with wise teaching, with thoughtful kindness. I trust her implicitly to such an extent I can’t even imagine not trusting her. Whatever honor and respect I have, to whatever degree I fear the Lord and glorify Him, results in large measure from God’s work in my life through Beth.

So I have no hesitation in saying to my sons: Marry a woman like your mother.

• Not necessarily in personality;
• Not necessarily in looks;
• Not even necessarily in the way she cooks (though there are side benefits to that!).

But marry a woman who desires to become wise. Marry a woman who wants to learn from wise women how to be wise. Marry a woman who fears the Lord, and will be worthy of your trust.

Also, remember: The lessons from Proverbs 31 are not just for marriage. This passage calls to all of us: Be like this wise, strong woman. Notice the women around you who live out this picture. Praise your mothers and grandmothers, praise the other women in your lives, to the extent they exemplify such wisdom.

Praise such women – yet remember the focus. This chapter does not tell us, “A diligent, strong woman is to be praised.” Rather, it says, “A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” For all – even the strongest and wisest of us – have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All of us – even the most morally upright of us – deserve God’s wrath and judgment. The only hope for any of us – virtuous by man’s standards or corrupt by man’s standards – is being united with Christ in His death and resurrection, through faith in Him.

So I praise God for His work in Beth, for her fear of Him. Indeed, I see her sinfulness, and she sees mine – better than anyone else. And I have seen Him mold and change her more and more into His likeness. So all glory to God who takes an object of His wrath and so sanctifies and purifies her so that she becomes like Christ – wise, strong, and valiant.

This is what I have seen in Beth – and what I hope you see in your wives and mothers. May such women through their wise examples show us all the way to the fountain of life and wisdom: Jesus Himself.