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.

I don’t think these verses are only important to a married woman but it is also important to anyone in any kind of relationship. Trust is the key word in here. How does a husband trust in his wife? Like the devotion last week said, by being a virtuous woman. If you are virtuous and you fear the Lord and walk in His ways, then what would your husband have to worry about? Your husband needs to trust you emotionally, physically, economically and spiritually. If he cannot trust you in those areas, then he will not be able to focus on his part in the marriage and he can’t focus on what God has called him to do.  God may have called the man to be the head of the household but the household cannot just be held by the man alone. The woman role in a marriage is just as important and the household could fall apart by your bad mood, attitude, and lack of love or respect towards your husband or family. Proverbs 14:1 says “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” How true is that? Your husband may come home after having a rough day but if you are filled with the spirit and you are uplifting it is refreshing for him and it can change his whole mood. If he comes home to a woman with a bad attitude, then it becomes toxic for him and your whole family.

A wife should be the backbone of their husband and their household. They should strengthen the man when he is weak with prayer, love, words of encouragement, and respect. Ephesians 5:33 tells us “Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.” Paul knew that in a marriage men need to be respected by their wife to feel secure in their marriage and a woman needs to feel loved. When both of those things are happening, both sides will feel content in their marriage, the trust will be there and each one can focus on what the Lord calls them to do.

The next verses says “she does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life”. Now I know ‘all the days of her life’ may be a tough act to follow because we are just human and we feel emotions too and sometimes we slip and have bad days and if that has happened, IT IS OKAY. Proverbs 31 is meant to be a guideline. It is speaking of the perfect Godly woman. We cannot always live up to it, but just like our relationship with Jesus when we fail we must go and repent. If we have a bad day we should humble ourselves and show respect by apologizing.

How else can we live up to these standards? Stay in the word, pray and have grace. Ask the Lord to show you how you can bless your husband. If you get in a argument, pray that the Lord will give you the words to say instead of lashing back in your flesh. Finally, invest in your relationships and give yourself grace when things aren’t perfect. When you stop trying to have everything perfect in your life and invest in your relationships- you will see the beauty that will come in your marriage and your relationships around you.