WISDOM...WIFE?

Last weekend there was a revival at my church. A life-changing revival, preached by a tornado of anointing in the person of District Elder Zulu, by way of West Africa. I have not the time or the arsenal of vocabulary to accurately describe the way the Holy Spirit moved, or the ways in which I was impacted. In the midst of that, he taught us some things about wives. A wife should be: W.I.F.E. WiseIndustriousFaithfulEconomical So, you know, after hearing this we're all thinking, "wow, how clever! Am I all of these things?"I am a 22 year old woman (23 in 12 days!). I got the school thing down (by the grace of God), I am faithful in church, growing and learning in ministry, and a I am madly in love with the Lord. At this point of my life, you know what's on my mind every so often, right? MARRIAGE! It's not a consuming desire, but I aint got no time to bluff. As much as I am loving singleness, few things I desire to be more than a mother and a wife. The ministry of marriage is a beautiful and sacred thing to me. And in due time, I look forward to it. And I know that I am in good company. Keeping this in mind, I am regularly checking my heart to the standard of Christ...and quite frequently finding there are MANY things I need to work on and blemishes that have to be worked out of me. I first have to make sure I am a good, humble, and submissive bride to Christ before I ever even think about being a bride to an imperfect human. Today, I during my bible study, I decided to read that good ole wisdom book...PROVERBS! And I was pretty much blown away by what God showed me. Firstly, wisdom is addressed as a woman. Proverbs 8 says wisdom is above jewels, better than choice gold and silver. Take my instruction instead of silver and knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is better than jewels,     and all that you may desire cannot compare with her...My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,    and my yield than choice silver (Proverbs 8:10-11,19 ESV) Does this sound familiar? Hmm...well to me, sounds a bit like Proverbs 31 and the virtuous woman. An excellent wife who can find?     She is far more precious than jewels...She opens her mouth with wisdom,     and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue (Proverbs 31:10,26 ESV) For those who don't know, most of Proverbs 31 describes the virtuous, God fearing woman and wife. It paints a portrait of the type of woman and wife we should strive to be. Her example is so important because she exhibits the Christ-like traits through her position of womanhood. Back in Proverbs 8, it ALSO states that he who obtains wisdom obtains favor from the Lord For whoever finds me[wisdom] finds life     and obtains favor from the Lord (Proverbs 8:35 esv) Isn't that interesting? This sounds familiar as well! He who finds a wife finds a good thing     and obtains favor from the Lord (Proverbs 18:22 ESV) On the other hand, folly is actually described as a seductive woman. The woman Folly is loud;     she is seductive[h] and knows nothing. (Proverbs 9:13 ESV) She looks good, but is full of nothing and is in no way beneficial or profitable to your soul.  Proverbs constantly teaches about the wrong kind of woman...the type that is alluring and attractive, but leads to demise. It makes it clear that beauty and charm are not the principle things. In fact,  Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,     but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. (Proverbs 31:30 ESV) 7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. (Proverbs 4:7 KJV) I don't believe these are coincidence, I believe these parallels are very intentional. I surmise that when God says to a man "go get a wife", He isn't merely telling men to just grab the first fine and available woman. He is inviting men to attain a gift of wisdom by loving a Godly woman. So, when a man obtains a wife, he SHOULD be OBTAINING SOME GODLY WISDOM by attaining her...a great part of that favor He promises will manifest from her wisdom. What does that tell us ladies?  If we aren't wise, we aren't wife material. Period. Men, HEAR THIS: A foolish woman cannot become a Godly man's favor! #Lifecheck Far too many women are focusing on attributes that sound more like the person of folly than of wisdom. What are you doing to obtain wisdom? Where does it rank on your hierarchy of characteristics to cultivate? We've got to evaluate ourselves. I know I have a lot of work to do. In all our getting, we need to strive for wisdom and understanding. Gain skills, get fit, present yourself well...I support ALL of those things tremendously (and so should you)! BUT It is my humble opinion that WISDOM will make you more a Christ-like wife than any amount of cooking or cleaning ever will.  Great reads about self evaluation and preparation for marriage: Intentional or Not? Let's talk Marriage...a blog post written by my wise and wonderful sister Brittany and this blog by my wise twitter sister, Alana considering the lily (I suggest you read: The Case for Courtship, The (In) significance of Marriage and dear future wife) love, compassion, royalty Queen G