Daily EncouragementSample

It is the character of the wife that really counts, because charm and beauty are only skin deep. We are reminded that “charm is deceptive and beauty fleeing” (v.30), and we know it to be true. For charm can be very superficial and the most beautiful grow old. Character has to do with the beauty of the “inner self which is unfading” (1 Pet. 3:3-4). The characteristics which are emphasized in the verses which follow are noteworthy. Not least among them is diligence, which is marked by insight and foresight. There is an attractive strength and dignity about the woman, and she displays wisdom, particularly in what she says. She is generous. Her influence on her husband and children is profound. Her supreme characteristic is her fear of the Lord. Such wives exist and can be found. So the young George Whitefield discovered one Sunday in 1740 on a visit to Jonathan Edwards’ home. “Mrs. Edwards is adorned with a meek and quiet spirit; she talked solidly of the things of God, and seemed to be such a helpmeet for her husband, that she caused me to renew those prayers, which, for some months, I have put up to God, that he would be pleased to send me a daughter of Abraham to be my wife.”