“Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30)
The favor that a virtuous woman receives is not deceitful. She escapes the snare of the fowler who would capture her with flattery. The beauty she exhibits is not vain.
Underneath her outward appearance there is a meek and quiet spirit which is of great price in the sight of God. Because she fears the Lord she wins His praise and lives above the critiques of those who judge after the flesh. Her clothing is not meant to impress and allure men. “Strength and honour are her clothing.” She is honorable because “she opens her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” Her kindness causes her to think of others and their feelings and condition. She does not have to be pushed or prodded to do the right thing by way of others. She “works willingly with her hands,” and although she is a servant of others, all she is and all she does is unto the Lord, and not unto men. A graciousness that appears effortless is the product of her secret devotion to the God she loves and longs to please. Her labor in the Lord is not in vain. She will “rejoice in time to come.” Her Lord is not unrighteous to forget all her labors of love toward His Name. She “shall be praised” by Him all the more because she refuses to lift herself up. It is fitting that others should “give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.”
The Father had an Ideal Partner in mind for His Son – one of virtue, whose price was far above rubies. Don’t despise the idea of being His lovely bride. Live to please Him. Long for His praise.