VIRTUE IS LASTING – Proverbs 31:27b
Proverbs 31:27b and eateth not the bread of idleness.
The eighth benefit that Solomon would receive in marrying a virtuous woman would be that she would continue to be a diligent woman. One of the many characteristics that Solomon was to look for in his future wife was that she was a diligent woman. Just because a person is diligent today, does not mean that they will be diligent tomorrow. However, Solomon was not simply looking for diligence in a wife, he was looking for virtue and one of the qualities he was looking for virtue would be found in diligence.
If a person just has diligence, they can quickly not become diligent when they grow weary or they just become board with what they are doing. However, a person who is virtuous understands that they are accountable to God and thus fills their thinking with the things of God. As a result, their diligence does not just come from their liking what they are doing; they demonstrate diligence because it is a way of life.
Solomon had a lot of responsibilities filling his life. He needed a wife who would be diligent to help encourage him to be diligent. If his wife was idle, then her idleness would naturally rub off on him as he was around her. However, if they were both diligent, then they would maximize their time here on earth and do as much for God collectively as would be possible.
If one of them were idle, then it would harm the relationship. Imagine a pair of ox attached to a yoke. If one ox decides to stop pulling, it will greatly hamper the other ox from completing the job. The ox that is working must either stop or it must drag the other ox in addition to dragging the burden. If the working ox starts dragging the non-working ox, then both oxen with become injured as a result of their yoke rubbing them wrong.
Solomon needed to marry a woman who was virtuous and not one who was simply diligent. By marrying a woman who was virtuous, not only would she be demonstrating the quality of diligence but she also would continue to demonstrate the quality of diligence throughout their life. Solomon did not marry a virtuous woman. Because Solomon not following his mother’s advise, his ministry was diminished.
God has a purpose for your life. You need to associate with virtuous people in order to fulfill the task that God has set before you. First you must add virtue to your life and then look for virtuous people to assist you. Do not be fooled by people who demonstrate great qualities, because great qualities can fade with time. Instead, you can use those great qualities to see if they have added virtue to their life. If they have taken the time to add virtue, then their life will be full of character that will last.
If you desire for your life to be all that it can be, then you must be careful that you associate with those who have a common vision and have demonstrated that they have added virtue to their life. You do not want to associate with an individual who halfway through the race stops. Instead, you need to associate with those who carefully have counted the cost and have the fortitude to finish the race that God has set before them. You can control whether you have virtue but you cannot control whether someone else has added virtue. Nonetheless, you can choose to associate with those who are virtuous.