October 10, 2014 · 7:00 PM
↓ Jump to Comments

A Helpful Opposite

Hearthie, commenting over at Elspeth’s blog, left a link to a post titled The Opposite of the Proverbs 31 Woman. I think my Christian readers would find it illuminating and worth the read. So go check it out.

8 Comments

Filed under Christianity, Femininity, God, Sin, Temptation, Women

8 responses to “A Helpful Opposite”

  1. Stingray
    October 11, 2014 at 3:12 PM

    That’s pretty powerful, Donal. Thank you for posting it.

  2. donalgraeme
    October 11, 2014 at 4:36 PM

    @ Stingray

    Actually, the thanks are due to Hearthie for cluing me to it in the first place.

    But yeah, its powerful. Worth trying that in other contexts as well, I should think.

  3. mdavid
    October 11, 2014 at 8:50 PM

    I confess reading her post put me ill at ease. At first I thought it was the changing of Scripture, but that’s silly and wasn’t it. I had to reflect a bit to spot why:

    Proverbs 31…is not a snapshot of a young mom “doing it all”/”having it all”. It’s descriptive, rather than prescriptive…Rather than seeing it as a guilt-producing chapter, this could be a clarion call to point to some areas where God can bring about growth in our lives…When we feel a general sense of shame or humiliation, that is not from God.

    Prov 31 was actually prescriptive…for the King! And of course it was included in Scripture so as to be prescriptive for women called to marriage (with historical modifications of course). It serves to warn men, to inspire women, and invoke guilt in women who are falling short on the path to sainthood.

    Modernity does everything in its power to treat “guilt” as a baaad thing. I guess it’s part of the whole OSAS and FA heresies. Myself, I love guilt, the voice of God talking directly to me, personally.

    Actually, this would be a great discussion point for a man before popping the question: if you were married, would you find Pv 31 to be prescriptive for you personally?

  4. Elspeth
    October 13, 2014 at 9:23 PM

    @mdavid:

    I think Jess was making the point that there are times in a woman’s life when she can juggle all the balls outlined in Proverbs 31:10-31 and times when she can’t.

    For example, I ran a small home business for a few years, then we had baby #4, and I took fewer and fewer orders. By the time Baby #5 was on the way, I had let it all but dry up.

    Now we’re homeschooling, and while I hope to dip my foot back into the entrepreneurial pool, it’s just not on the table at present.

    I don’t think she was in any way excusing laziness or saying we shouldn’t make an all out effort to be productive in every area, just reminding us that Proverbs 31 is a snapshot of a life in its entirety, with moments highlighted.

    But all that said, her reversal of the passage was excellent, was it not?

  5. donalgraeme
    October 13, 2014 at 9:49 PM

    But all that said, her reversal of the passage was excellent, was it not?

    That was the biggest draw for me linking there. I found it especially compelling, in a repellant kind of way.

    I hope that made some sense.

  6. SirNemesis
    October 13, 2014 at 9:53 PM

    @ Elspeth

    Now we’re homeschooling, and while I hope to dip my foot back into the entrepreneurial pool, it’s just not on the table at present.

    In the modern culture, homeschooling is entrepreneurship.

  7. hearthie
    October 17, 2014 at 4:51 AM

    Oh! I didn’t see this. Thanks, Donal. 🙂

    This hit me hard – I’m glad it’s blessing others too. 🙂

  8. donalgraeme
    October 17, 2014 at 5:00 AM

    You are welcome Hearthie. I appreciate you bringing it to my attention.

Leave a comment