Most of our beautiful sisters in the church of Jesus Christ aspire to be called virtuous women. There can be no better honour for a woman than to have both her children and husband rise up in a volountary standing ovation in true heartfelt honour because of her transcendent capacities, virtue and grace. “Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.” That’s a standing ovation you know.
I am in great awe as I study again and again the towering example of this super woman in Prov 31. My prayer is that all of you reading this will have grace to be like her and even better. God should just make Iyebiye like this woman o. Nothing else in this world would satisfy!
Despite the great desire to be like this woman however, most sisters may never have closely interrogated the mental template and financial philosophy that powered what that woman grew to become.
The Prov. 31 woman is a direct counteraction of the Genesis 3 woman whose desire is to her husband and who lived subservient to him. While the fallen woman puts her trust in her husband, we are told from the opening of that passage that the heart of the husband of the virtuous woman trusts in her. That’s a direct opposite. Of course this trust does not refer to dependence on her as his source but a rock-solid confidence in the managerial capability of his wife and the assurance of profit from the venture she manages for the two of them.
We have evidence from the passage to establish that the husband was active in providing the seed capital for the venture. “The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So HE WILL HAVE NO LACK OF GAIN.” Prov 31: 11 NKJV. Means if the business makes profit or loss, it is the man’s profit or loss. It shouldn’t be his profit or loss if he didn’t provide seed capital or at least a part of it in cash or in form of sweat equity. But she’s the manager who has made the business empire to grow so large. The man is a top government leader who has little time as an entrepreneur.
The man had left the entire business and all business decisions in the hands of his wife without excepting his cheque book and ATM card. He trusts her discretion for purchases. He knows she will never purchase anything except it is absolutely necessary. She is not carried away by peer pressure to impress anyone or aso-ebi trends. The Madam is actually a very smart spender. She always seeks means of saving cost. Instead of buying ready woven clothes, she spins her own raw materials from her own flocks and weaves the clothes herself. Prov 31:13.
No wonder the woman has enough spare cash with which she is able to expand the business through real estate and viticulture. Most women of our days unlike the virtuous woman are more notorious as spenders rather than savers. They have standards in their head that must be met for every purchase eventhough their income may not support it. A woman who earns twenty thousand naira in a month will go and purchase a wig worth fifteen thousand just because she mustn’t go below what’s in vogue.
Women are generally easily influenced by what’s in vogue, Instagram, social media buzz so that they are always under pressure to make impressions that they cannot afford if they will be able to free up sufficient money for savings and investments. The wedding gown must worth so and so amount even if there is a cheaper version that is still beautiful. No. It’s too cheap a gown for a wedding. And most people in the audience aren’t even sophisticated enough to tell the difference between the #50,000 and #150,000 gown. Most of us men don’t know the difference.
O woman, why are you given to vanities? Why should you spend your entire savings on make-up and clothes just because of a day wedding? The virtuous woman was not so. She doesn’t care about designer labels as long as she can sew for herself something elegant and beautiful. She will prefer to sew for herself rather than buy ready-made just to reduce cost. She always sought the cheapest alternative to whatever she needed to buy. Her question was always, “is there a cheaper alternative?” Whether in the ancient Babylon or in current Nigeria, no one who doesn’t follow this principle of finance will ever be able to save for investment. The money will always not be enough.
She considers a field before buying it. Prov 31:16. She doesn’t rush into any investment until she has first #KnowlegedUp. She has developed sound knowledge of the industry she’s investing in and so she ensures that the property ticks all the boxes before she throws in her money. How did she know what boxes the property must tick? She has red tonnes and tonnes of books on real estate investing. She’s versed also on general principles of corporate governance and “scaling”. She hardly has time for Instagram. She’s always fixated on Bloomberg and CNBC Africa scouting for the latest information in the business world.
As she makes profit, she carefully expands her business empire. From her proceeds, she fully provides for the children – all they need – with leftover for the maids and even the poor. Her husband doesn’t experience any form of domestic distraction. The wife has taken care of everything. Can you imagine that?! So he’s able to focus without distraction on his calling as a government leader. She’s help to his life indeed. No wonder the man is always talking about his wife and praising her. Who would have such a wife and won’t be full of thanksgiving?
This is the Genesis 2 woman that is God’s vision for every sister reading this piece. God wanted the woman to be a help to the man in every ramification and that includes being a financial help. Since his own mission usually requires he goes to the field for days away from his family, the woman was to help him stabilise his home front and ensure he has less and less to worry about so he can give himself unreservedly to the work whereunto he has been called; concerning which both of them shall be equally rewarded.
Sister, when will you rise up to become like the Prov 31 woman? When will you shun a life of vanity and devote yourself to real substance? You’re supposed to be a help and not a load. An asset and not a liability.
Have you thought in the past that you can’t be a successful investor? You’re wrong. Anyone can be anything they have set their hearts to be. As you can see, being a sound financial manager and multiplier is one of God’s major definitions of what makes a woman virtuous. We thank God for your sexual purity and christian character but at least as far Prov 31 is concerned, that is not enough to declare you virtuous.
Beyond that, if you want your husband and children to praise you – give you a standing ovation even in their hearts, you must fare well in this matter of finance. You can’t be a dumb head anymore. You will need to do away with some books and television shows and replace them with finance materials. Part of your destiny as a virtuous woman is to be an accomplished investor!
Will you like to come out of all your excuses and step into your destiny as a Genesis 2 woman right away?
My prayer for you is that in your lifetime, this message will become your reality. Your husband will one day rise up while you’re still sitting, maybe break into tears and really thank you for making God’s work so easy for him to do without distractions. Then your children will join in the standing ovation with tears and all shall call you blessed.
We’ll continue next week as we consider the issue of house chores. Whose role should it be? If the man isn’t the sole provider, then he has to be ready to share in the house chores or else the thing is not balanced. That’s what some women told me. Ok, we’ll talk about it next week.
Your brother,
Peniela Eniayo, Akintujoye.
©Peniela Eniayo, Akintujoye| hello@lovestraighttalks.com
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