Proverbs 31:23

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Her husband is greatly respected 

   when he deliberates with the city fathers.

Qualities:

             Submissive: Honoring your husband enough to let him lead. 

                              (My Definition)

Breakdown: 

Okay Ladies, for those of you who shudder at the mere mention of the word "Submit" you should either take a deep breath & dive into this post or just hit the "x" button now. I feel fairly certain that some of you are scanning the verse again, thinking this verse doesn't even mention the Proverbs 31 Woman (P31W)...right? Initially that was my thought until I realized how odd it would be for every single verse to be describing a woman's godly character but for this verse to hop to her husband & then back to her...nope, the quality is inferred. Maybe biblical women shuddered at the word "submit" too?  

How in the world did I get the character quality Submissive out of that verse? To be completely candid, it's because I used to shudder at the word...do more than shudder really. I'd get my feathers ruffled, strut my prowess of leadership skills, point out scriptural women who "took charge"...yep this message is definitely for me. As a teenage girl who'd been a believer her whole life, as a young woman on fire for the Lord, I can tell you that I didn't need 'no man' to lead me. Shoot! I'd have been hard pressed to find a man far enough in his faith to even think about giving me some pointers. As for general obedience of a man, not likely. Sound arrogant?  I absolutely was. Sound familiar?  I'll let you just think on that. 

Back to the scripture. In wording only this verse refers to the P31W's husband. It says 2 things about his character: 1.he is respected & 2. he is in the inner circle of leaders within the community (church). So this is where we have to look deeper, be discerning & know that God is speaking to us (women) about our character & how it impacts our husband's integrity. How many of you when you read this verse were a wee bit miffed that it didn't say "She is respected when she sits & deliberates with the cities fathers." ? 

I'm going to be brief in my explanation of this because I want to get nitty & gritty with it in another post, this one is just for Proverbs 31 break down. To put it in simple terms a man cannot/will not be respected if his wife does not respect him. A man cannot/will not lead if his wife is leading him. The biblical man is thereby respected & leading because he leads his household. Simple as that. 

Application:
If you balk against the idea of submission, please read my next post, search scripture, read books on the topic, & begin to open your heart to the possibility that you might be buying into Satan's grand scheme.

If you have begun embracing this concept, please read my next post, search scripture, read books on the topic, & begin acting out a submissive heart. Be amazed by what occurs.