The Virtuous Woman, the Wife of Noble Character, the Daughter of the Lord, the Sister in Christ…

No matter the title she wears or the position she holds, her beauty is great and it runs far deeper than the surface of her skin.

It is the virtuous woman, the woman of noble character that is worth far more than rubies. It is the heart of a daughter of God that is to be treasured. It is her faith in the Lord that anchors her soul. It is her trust in her Savior that keeps her safe and strong. It is her hope in His return that keeps her head lifted high and her steps moving onward even when the winds and the rains and storms of life thunder and shake all around her.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Gen 1:26-27)

 
In a world where women, made by the very hand and in the very image of the God of all creation, can be demeaned, diminished, devalued, and destroyed by weak, arrogant, selfish, and prideful men, it is little surprise that we see atrocities abound and further decay in the morality of mankind as false doctrines of false religions of false gods are named behind such horrors as rape, acid burning, forced prostitution, human trafficking, and all forms of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse that are waylaid upon these women, these images of God in wave after wave after horrifying wave of sin at work.

As if that battlefield weren’t large enough and that force against them brutal enough, these women, these images of God, far too often find themselves at war on another front. It is one thing (one horrible thing) to be misunderstood by someone with a distinctly different makeup as we clearly see from the brotherhood of a fallen humanity. It is horrible to see those who were designed to be protectors and providers and pursuers of their more lovely counterparts turn into brutish thugs who would abuse their beauty and use them, not as people, but as products. It is one thing to be unknown and undervalued by a gender different than your own, it is another (equally horrible) thing to be known, understood, and yet still undervalued by a gender of your own.

How sad it is indeed that these women, these images of God, would be so distorted by the corruption of their enemies (the world, the flesh, and the devil) that they would so often turn on each other in bitterness, jealousy, anger, and hatred. How sad it is indeed to see these lovely creatures, these daughters of God, designed by their Creator with mouths made to sing and to comfort and to encourage and to praise be used to demean, diminish, devalue, and destroy their own, their fellow members of the sisterhood of humanity.

And perhaps worse still, how sad it is indeed that these women, these images of God, would battle not just against their fallen brothers and their fallen sisters, but even against their fallen selves. How sad it is indeed to see their torment and torture self-applied. The mirror can be a cruel judge if it is fixed on a myopic view, short-sighted, shallow, and just shy of the depth of beauty that resides beyond the fixtures of the flesh and into the heart of their humanity, their virtue, their character, their very soul.

The truest reflection of a woman is seen not in the mirror of the world, where darkness casts a murky haze upon the image looking back, but rather the truest reflection of a woman is seen in the clear light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and through the lens that He has shaped by the Word revealed and embodied in Him. How much greater does the Master Craftsman know His trade than those vessels made by His hands! It is the Creator of beauty, of worth, of virtue, and of value that determines the price tag of His creation.

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. (Proverbs 31:10)

 
It is our Lord who calls us all to calibrate our scales in accordance with His word and it’s His word that tells us to broaden our gaze, to look beyond the shallow and simple distractions of the world – those counterfeit jewels that are far too cheaply made and far too easily put on – and to look to the mine of wealth within that has been formed under the pressures of a life spent fighting against the kingdom of this world and fighting for the Kingdom that is to come when our glorious King returns. It is our Lord that places the value of His daughters in the virtues they embody rather than in the visions that they cast before a broken and depraved world.

What is this virtue? Where is it found? And how is it formed?

“Virtue,” N.T. Wright says in his book (After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters), “is what happens when someone has made a thousand small choices requiring effort and concentration to do something which is good and right, but which doesn’t come naturally. And then, on the thousand and first time, when it really matters, they find that they do what’s required automatically. Virtue is what happens when wise and courageous choices become second nature.”

And where does one find the ability to make those “thousand small choices” without the privilege of the power to do so (see Romans 7:18) and without the pressure of the impossibility of a perfect performance on our part? Only in Christ. For it is in Christ that believers can do all things (Philippians 4:13). In our weakness His strength is made perfect (2 Corinthians 12:9). Therefore, it is her devotion to the Lord that must be valued in this world. As John Piper sums up so well in his exposition and application of Genesis 1:26-28:

“God created you; he created you in his image; and he created you male or female that you might be utterly and radically and uniquely devoted to the Lord.”

No matter the title she wears or the position she holds, her value is great…

She’s worth far more than rubies.

Let us know your thoughts… What has the Lord taught you about the value of women?  How has your heart and mind been changed, developed, softened, strengthened, etc…?

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