How to Be a Virtuous Woman

Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.

The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

Forty Things About a Virtuous Woman Proverbs 31:10-31

A Virtuous Woman is:

1. verse 10 — Strong

2. verse 10 — Invaluable

3. verse 11 — Trustworthy

4. verse 11 — Sufficiency in all things

5. verse 12 — Sterling character, accommodating

6. verse 13 — Ingenious

7. verse 13 — Industrious

8. verse 14 — Proficient

9. verse 14 — Has compassion

10. verse 15 — Dutiful, obliging (willing and eager to do favors, offers her services, accommodating)

11. verse 15 — Considerate

12. verse 16 — Versatile

13. verse 16 — Healthy

14. verse 17 — Robust

15. verse 18 — Joyful

16. verse 18 — Efficient

17. verse 18 — Watchfully cautious

18. verse 19 — Thrifty

19. verse 19 — Skillful

20. verse 20 — Charitable

21. verse 20 — Merciful

22. verse 21 — Fearless

23. verse 21 — Believes in abundance

24. verse 22 — Good housekeeper

25. verse 22 — Tactful

26. verse 22 — Refined

27. verse 23 — No dishonor to husband (a credit to husband)

28. verse 23 — Popular

29. verse 24 — Dependable

30. verse 24 — Competent

31. verse 25 — Respected

32. verse 26 — Wise, discreet

33. verse 26 — Kind

34. verse 27 — Practical

35. verse 27 — Energetic

36. verse 27 — Good worker

37. verse 28 — Good mother

38. verse 28 — Good wife

39. verse 29 — Honorable

40. verse 30 — God-fearing (respects God)

Forty qualities. She is committed. She is compassionate. She is capable. She is confident. And she still comes home to the people she loves and pours herself out for them, not because she has to, but because that is what strength looks like when she is doing God's Word.

This is the standard for us to be the women God has called us to be - Virtuous Women.

This list is pulled straight out of God's Word.

You do not have to have all forty today. Pick the one and start there. Ask God to help you grow in that category. Then pick the next one. This is a lifetime of work, and it's something we work on every day.

That is how a girl becomes a virtuous woman.

In Proverbs 31:10 "virtuous" in Hebrew is Chayil . It carries the sense of strength, ability, efficiency, and wealth. It's the same word used for an army, where it gets translated "force," and for a man of valor. So when Scripture calls a woman virtuous, it's using military and warrior language, not language about being soft or quiet.

Some people have virtuous confused with quiet or agreeable or small. And a virtuous woman is not small. Read the chapter again. She buys land. She runs a business out of her own home. She plans for winter before winter comes. She is strong enough that verse 17 says she girds her loins with strength, which is the same kind of language used for a soldier getting ready to fight. This woman is not hiding. She is capable, and she is confident, and she still puts her family first. Both things are true at once. They were always meant to be true at once.

So I went through the whole passage, verse by verse, and I pulled out every quality I could find. Forty of them. I am not handing you a checklist to make you feel like you are failing at thirty-five of them by Tuesday. I am handing you a mirror. This is what God already built into the design of a godly woman. Some of these you already have. Some of them you are growing into. That is fine. Nobody wakes up chayil. You become it. And it's something we work at every day.