Wednesdays In The Word: Proverbs 31:22 “She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.”
It’s Week 14 of our
Proverbs 31 Series. So far we have seen that the Proverbs 31 woman rises early, works eagerly, works vigorously, shops wisely, even in the evenings she is extremely productive, she extends her beautiful hands to the poor and she is prepared for every season.
Today we will see that her clothing is a reflection of her character. After taking special care of her family and household she does not get lazy with her own appearance. But she takes special care to sew herself garments of fine linen and purple.
This fine linen and purple suggests a touch of elegance and class but not excessiveness because remember she couldn’t run out to the mall to shop, she was a seamstress so she would have sewn her own clothing.
This detail about her clothing comes last, after a long list of many other tasks she accomplishes. She put her needs last. If she were selfish it would not be beautiful. And remember that this is King Lemuel’s Mother telling him what sort of woman he should look for to be his queen. So before we quickly plan a trip to Ann Taylor, we must assess how well we are doing covering the needs of our family first.
On the flip side, there is no virtue in plainness – if that is your personality – I don’t fault you but it is not more virtuous than trying to be attractive. Sometimes as a knee jerk reaction to this world, we may want to say that any attempts at beauty is sinful but that is not the case with the Proverbs 31 woman. She made everything from her home to her clothing, appealing to the eye. She knew that how she decorated her home and what she wore was a reflection of her husband and children. And though she made everyone else her first priority, when she did finally find time for herself she did not slack off.
She was not immodest nor trying to draw attention to herself, rather the Proverbs 31 woman was able to find the delicate balance of being classy with I Peter 3:3-4 which says “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is of great worth in God’s sight.”
Is your home well cared for, your finances in order, your family well fed, have you reached out to the poor? As you spring shop for the family – don’t forget to purchase yourself a classy purple blouse! I don’t believe I’ve ever encouraged my readers to go shopping at the end of the blog post before – but it’s in the passage right lol! Let your purple shirt be symbolic of the inner beauty of the Proverbs 31 woman you are striving for.
Walk with the King!
I am participating in Seven Clown Circus Wordful Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom Wordless Wednesday.
Wednesdays In The Word: 
Awesome post Courtney! Please continue to pray for me as I seek Sponsorship for the Relevant conference.
I WOULD LOVE to meet you in person and give you a big hug.
Love you!
Traci
PS: off to get me a purple blouse 🙂
Courtney….So WELL said! What wise words…putting herself last and STILL taking time for herself.
What a blessing this post will be to so many! Bless you for sharing your gifts with us on WFW!
Purple blouse? Challenge on! 🙂
peace!
lori
I love this thought. I remember hearing someone speak on modesty — that it isn't just staying covered up and not displaying all our goods, but that it is not being excessive. But dressing to excess and dressing attractively are very different things. Isn't it great to know that we can enjoy nice things as long as we're not enslaved to them?
I know that many women value your advice, but you have overlooked one thing, moms of special needs children.I have 3 special needs children A 4 yr old who has had 2 heart surgeries and is Autistic. Two two year olds who were born at 29 weeks. Between hospital visits doctor apointments and therapy sessions ( sometimes 6-8 per week) moms like us find it hard to keep a house such as yours. And before you offer advice on how to do it, walk in a special needs moms shoes for a while. Because as good as your advice look on the screen (and it does) there is no way you know how difficult it can be in our shoes.
Jennifer S- you definately have been dealt an extremely difficult hand that I in no way can say I fully understand.
God does not command us to literally BE the Proverbs 31 woman (or else we'd all have to sew our clothing and that's not happening :-)!) But he has given us principles in Proverbs 31 that we can follow.
The scripture says she wore fine linen and purple. And I'm going verse by verse through Proverbs 31 so there's no way to avoid this fact. You can decide in your situation what is best.
This is not my advice – this is me explaining the passage to readers.
I think a passage that would better encourage your heart today is Psalm 121 – a favorite of mine:
"I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip- he who watches over you will not slumber…"
I am praying for you today as I write this – may you sense God's presence in your life and find strength and comfort in your walk with him.
Much Love,
Courtney
Love this post for many reasons. I think it's time for me to put some purple in my closet. 😀 Thanks so much!!
Don't get me wrong I love your posts, just sometimes it seems hard to live up to everything when it seems that you are just trying to survive.
I always look forward to Wednesdays and learning more about Proverbs 31. Funny thing is, today I am wearing purple!
I've got a purple blouse and just LOVE it! Save it for those times when I just want to feel classy ;-D.
I was watching a documentary on the people of Iran the other day. Those women were amazing to me. In their culture it is considered a sign of respect to have their heads covered (and thus it has become law to do so), so they willingly cover their heads, but they still dress nicely underneath. Since their faces are really the only part of them that shows, they do everything they can to make them up beautifully. They've taken something we would deem as degrading and disrespectful and turned it into something beautiful!
As if I needed another reason to buy more purple!! Loved your post. Thank you. I keep my "pinkie painted purple" at all times so now I will go buy more purple shirts to match. (I will tell my hubs that Courtney told me to do it! LOL! Just kidding).
Love you!
Lots of good reminders in this post . . .but, I have a confession: I *hate* wearing purple. lol It's true — I feel like it calls so much attention to me (and, sadly, it's one of my best colors).
sweet post! happy WFW!r
I so love how you pictured Laura here.
Ginger
Sorry about that–I messed up!:) Just wanted to say how much I loved this great post! Loved the picture of our beloved Laura and getting a glance at her beloved husband. Warmed my heart. But I particularly appreciated your thoughts about putting ourselves last, but not slacking off when we get to self!
Nice post, thought provoking, made me smile 😉 Prov. 31- one of my most read chapters and favorites!
Love this post! Look forward to meeting you at Relevant10!
hugs
Sweetie
I love that, beautiful ~
Oh, this was soooooooooooooo good.
Thanks for sharing this today. I really enjoyed it.
Blessings to you this WFW!
That was very good.
I believe God made us to be beautiful inside and out…..and good grooming and presentation speaks so much of the character of a person.
Nice post, very nice. I wish more girls and women believed in modesty in today's world.
I really enjoyed reading this post. I will be sharing your link in my personal blog post today as I will be writing about what it means to be classy.
Great! Thank you for sharing!
Love,
Courtney 🙂