Mission Venture Ministries

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18) 

The woman was made to complement and support the man and to strengthen his work for God in this world. The man needed a companion like himself, and yet unlike himself, he needed a friend and ally that he could absolutely depend on. 

The woman completed the man, and he knew it, for he greeted her by saying: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23). As the New Testament clearly teaches the head of the woman is man (1 Corinthians 11:3) and that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of Christ is God. 

God’s purpose would not have been complete if man were to remain alone without the help of a loving woman. He needed her contribution; “a helper fit for him” which asserts the equal worth of the woman. She is fit for him that is, corresponding to him, on his level as his equal. 

The woman is not the man’s property or prize but is important in her own right as the man’s unique counterpart; she is the only one in all the creation who is made in the image of God like him. Man and woman need each other and benefit from each other mutually. Their gifts and abilities differ, but to the advantage of both to reflect the glory of God. 

In Proverbs 31:10 a wife is referred to as worth far more than rubies. We need to remember though that a jewel has no internal light of its own. Rather, it reflects the light that shines upon her, and if a wife shines and becomes radiant, she figuratively speaking, is reflecting the light of her husband’s love and attention. There is nothing more beautiful as the glow of a godly wife showing forth the radiance of a true Christian marriage! 

God has designed separate, but related, roles for men and women in much of life, including in marriage. We need to accept the roles God has given to us and learn to complete, not compete with our spouses. We need to honestly help one another to succeed in our biblical roles as husbands and wives to build successful, enjoyable, and fruitful marriages. 

Paul, in Ephesians 5:27, notes that the church, as the wife of Christ, is to be “radiant.” This is also true of earthly wives. How fulfilling it is to a woman when a loving husband is thrilled and pleased by this beautiful, radiant woman that belongs to him. 

If we are to enjoy good lifelong marriages, husbands and wives should strive not only to carry out their own unique roles, but most importantly to walk together under the Lordship of Christ into the oneness He has prepared for them. Together, a husband and wife can form something of beauty to honor God and to radiate this truth before man. 

In a godly marriage a man leads and the wife follows. And when she follows, it causes her husband to see his wife placing herself under his protection, which brings forth in him a love and willingness to give him self up for her which in turn brings forth her respect for him as a husband. 

No longer are these two competing individuals. Instead, by “submitting to one another …” (Ephesians 5:21), and carrying out their biblical roles, such a husband and wife have so integrated their lives that they truly have become “one flesh.” As a result, God is glorified, the partners receive joy and fulfillment, and society and future generations are blessed.

By following the Proverbs 31 example of fearing God and allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us, all women can grow to become mature godly women.

In order to understand what it means to be a godly wife, first we must understand what it means to be godly. When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior we are given the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit begins working within us to transform us into the new creation God wants us to become.

Galatians 5:22–23 describes the work of the Holy Spirit within us as: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control …” God created us in His image and these are attributes of His character that He longs to develop within us. Therefore, both men and women should embody the godly characteristics described in Galatians.

Proverbs 31 demonstrates how these characteristics uniquely manifest themselves through a wife’s role in marriage. One of the first characteristics we see of a godly woman is that she is faithful and completely loyal to her husband (Proverbs 31:11–12).

She is someone he can count on to live a godly life and bring honor to God.  She has a servant’s heart and cares for others. God wants to make us all humble, holy, dignified, wise, patient and kind (Proverbs 31:25–26).

These attributes gain her the respect of her husband and children. While all of the characteristics demonstrated in Proverbs 31 are valuable, the most important is that a godly woman fears the Lord and would never want to disobey His Word or the Holy Spirit’s leadership (Proverbs 31:30).

In this house I am blessed since my husband is my spiritual leader and priest in our home. He is a godly teacher and he has taught me how to teach others. When guests come to our home they remark that they sense God’s presence and a spirit of comfort, joy, and peace. My husband’s deepest desire is to live in unbroken fellowship with Jesus and our Heavenly Father.

Like the wife in Proverbs 31 wife, I want to please God, so I need to always make loyalty, love and respect for my husband a priority in my life. Marriage is a symbol of the relationship between the Church and Christ (Ephesians 5:31-32); therefore, I will follow the Lord’s command and will submit to my husband, as I do to the Lord (Ephesians 5:22).

When wives submit to their husbands’ leadership out of respect and trust, they exemplify the stance they should take as believers before Christ and, as such, profit from it. My example is that my husband treats me with love and respect and believes that I am a gift from God to him.

He encourages me and other Christians to develop the gifts and talents that God has given to all of His children. He wants everyone who visits our home to experience God’s love, peace and Holy presence in a wonderful and special way.

Remember that a wife that has a husband who wants to honor God with his life, is one of the most blessed, joyful and wealthy women in the world.

Here are a couple of the Bible verses that define the goal and purpose of our home, our marriage and our ministries. 

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You. (Isaiah 26:3)

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