What You Never Realized About the Proverbs 31 Woman

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What You Never Realized About the Proverbs 31 Woman

The other day I was reading through the well-known chapter from Proverbs on The Wife of Noble Character. If you have been around the church for a while, I’m sure you have heard of it. 

Maybe you have been apart of a women’s small group that has done a whole semester worth of study on The Wife of Noble Character. Or maybe you have learned about it at a conference, in a sermon, or through a blog post. At least you have probably heard a few verses quoted from Proverbs 31 about how we can be wives of noble character. 

I feel like I have heard plenty about the famous, Wife of Noble Character. However, the other day when I was reading through Proverbs 31, a few parts of the chapter popped out at me that I have never really noticed before. It was verses 16 – 18 and verse 24. Check them out:  

“She considers a field and buys it;
    with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
She dresses herself with strength
    and makes her arms strong.
She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
    Her lamp does not go out at night . . . 

She makes linen garments and sells them,
    and supplies the merchants with sashes.”
(Proverbs 31:16-18; 24 NIV)

My Connection to this Passage

Before I go into why this verse is so fascinating to me, let me give you a little bit of my background. 

I have been working in the real estate industry for almost 5 years now. I started out in property management and then moved on to work as a showing agent for a real estate firm here in Colorado. My husband and I invest in real estate and currently have 2 rental properties. 

A lot of my close relatives have also worked in the real estate industry; including my mother, my aunt, some of my cousins, and a lot of our family friends. 

Needless to say, I am surrounded by the world of real estate and it has become one of my biggest passions! 

The Noble Wife was a Real Estate Investor 

Maybe you have put two and two together, but what I noticed is that this Proverbs 31 passage indicates that this Wife of Noble Character invested in real estate. What?? 

Let’s look at it again…

“She considers a field and buys it”

When it comes to real estate, and investing specifically, there are a lot of different avenues you can take. In this passage, the wife is investing in farmland. 

She then went on to start a vineyard on the field she purchased, and also made sure that her investment was profitable. 

Did you know that the Bible talks about real estate investing more than just right here? I have found real estate investing in the Bible multiple different times!

Related: Unique Ways to Use Real Estate as a Ministry

The Noble Wife was an Entrepreneur

Not only was she investing in real estate but she started a business with the land she purchased and she was clearly very successful at it. 

“She perceives that her merchandise is profitable”

The wife’s business was profitable and she had enough money to continue to keep her lamp full of oil. Not only that, but the passage goes on to mention that she clothed her family in the finest clothing! She took the time to understand business in order to become successful at it. 

But that’s not all of her entrepreneurial endeavors. If you keep reading through Proverbs 31, you will come across verse 24 which says, 

“She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.” 

This woman of noble character has diversified her income streams. Not only does she have a profitable real estate investment, but she also has this other business. She is creating goods to be sold to other merchants. This noble woman did not let the fears of entrepreneurship keep her from accomplishing great things.

Related: The Rightful Business Owner

Important Business Takeaways from the Proverbs 31 Woman

There is so much to be learned from this passage on the Wife of Noble Character. There are a lot of business principles that can be applied to our own work. 

• This woman was clearly not afraid to set high goals and work hard to achieve them. She learned a few different trades and pursued them until she mastered them. 

• Later on in the passage, in verse 27, it mentions that “she does not eat the bread of idleness.” What I find fascinating about this is that she did not just sit around and wait for something to happen. She took action and worked very hard. She was very productive but did not let her productivity become an idol because she still made time for her family and God.

• Also, as I mentioned briefly, this woman diversified her income streams. Her husband seemed to work a full-time job. She watched over the house and also kept watch over their real estate investment. On top of that, she had her clothing business. 

• She was generous with her earnings. In verse 20 it says “She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.” Yes, she took great care of her family with the wealth she accumulated, but she also helped the poor! We should be doing this with our own earnings in order to honor God with our money.

• She was still a Godly woman through all the work that she did. She exuded Christ through everything that she did. She worked hard and became masterful at her craft because that is how we can honor God.

Related: Over 100 Bible Verses About Money

Being a Woman in a “Man’s World”

We have come very far in the journey towards gender equality, but there are still days when I can see how women aren’t always treated the same as men. I am fortunate enough not to run into many inequality issues; yet, I know that they do exist. 

For decades, society, and even the Church, have kept women out of the spotlight. Women were taught that they belonged in the home, and not in the working world. Fortunately, times have dramatically changed since then, but not in all areas of life. 

Sometimes I don’t feel like I fit into the world of entrepreneurship or the real estate investing community. Both fields tend to be more heavily saturated with men. I personally find it difficult at times to find women role models, mentors, or experts. On certain days, it leaves me thinking, “Do I really belong here?” 

We are All Made in His Image

God created both men and women in his own image as stated in Genesis.

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
(Genesis 1:27 NIV)

We definitely have differences from each other, and each difference has a specific purpose. There are even different roles that we hold, specifically in marriage. However, God did not define what kind of occupations that each gender could or could not pursue. 

Related: Married to a Real Estate Investor

Even though we tend to see a lot of men in certain areas of work and women in others, there are no rules on which jobs we can or cannot take. What God values is that we are doing that work in order to honor and glorify him! 

God is a creator, an innovator, and an inventor. We can be those things too because he has made us in his own image. 

In verse 11 of Proverbs 31, it mentions that this woman’s husband had full confidence in her. He knew that she would do her duties well, which included her household duties as well as those with their investments. Her husband respected her for what she did. 

Glorifying God Through Our Work

Every day that I get to work on our real estate business I know that I am bringing glory to God.

How do I know this?

Because he has specifically gifted me with the talents and abilities to do this kind of work. I get excited about educating others on how to buy a home or how to look for a good property manager for their rental property.

It is clear after reading Proverbs 31 that the wife of noble character is a woman of excellence. She knows what God has gifted her with and how to use those talents to honor him and to benefit his kingdom. The woman is masterful at what she does in order to bring glory to God and to love those around her.

This passage gave me reassurance that even though the work I do is difficult, and at times I feel like I don’t belong, it is exactly where God has called me to be. He wants me to work hard and be profitable. But above all, he wants me to honor him through it. 

That goes for you too, in whatever career field you are in. 

What are your thoughts on this Woman of Noble Character?
Have you ever noticed that she was an entrepreneur and a real estate investor?
In what ways do you identify with her?

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