Proverbs 31: 26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
Proverbs 31: 26. The ideal woman, the kind who’d make a great queen, knows what to say and exactly how to say it. She is not the airhead laughing mindlessly and loudly all the guys’ jokes while squeezing her shoulders together so they can see her cleavage. The future queen is too wise for that. She understands that if she presents herself like a fool that any man can have then men will treat her like a fool that any man can have.
The future queen, wherever she is, whomever she is, speaks with wisdom and kindness. And she isn’t nice according to class, or ethnicity, or economic status, or how closely the other people match her concept of physical beauty. She is kind according to the law of God.
Because God said so, she loves and speaks kindly to her neighbor---- her rich neighbor, her poor neighbor, her Christian neighbor, her you-believe-what neighbor, her same-race-as-me neighbor, her not-my-same-skin-tone neighbor, her looks-like-they-got-it-all-together neighbor, her everything’s-falling-apart neighbor, etc., etc.
She’s not nice because she’s weak. She isn’t kind because she’s “fake.” (“Fake” is such a hellishly stupid concept. Like somehow it’s more genuine to be a gossiping jerk than to be freakin’ polite and professional.) The woman who will be queen is not polite because she wants something from you. She is kind because that’s how the Bible, the law of God, teaches her to be. (Ephesians 4: 29-32; Luke 10: 29-37)
The same speaker who described the virtuous woman also advised the reigning king:
Open your mouth for the speechless,
In the cause of all who are appointed to die.
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And plead the cause of the poor and needy. ( Proverbs 31: 8, 9)
A Proverbs 31: 26 woman speaks kindly and wisely because that is what good kings do, and she is a match for a king.
In the South, we have a word for a such a woman. We call her a “gracious lady.” It’s the way we describe the wives of governors and presidents, and the matriarchs of great families. It’s what we expect of our queens.
Speak to people as a gracious lady. It’s what God expects of His queens.
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. (Colossians 4: 5, 6)
---Anderson T. Graves II is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.
Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).
To hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .
If this message helps or touches you, please help support this ministry. Send a donation of any amount by check or money order.
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116
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