Today, the Proverbs 31 Teens of the world tackle a challenging (at least for me) phrase. Let's read it.
NKJV - Proverbs 31:11b "So he will have no lack of gain."
WHAT IN THE WORLD? Okay, I'm sorry, maybe this is just a dumb thing, but I cannot wrap my mind around the "lack" of "gain" thing at all. Every time I try to break that down in my mind, something happens and I fail and end up horribly confused. I'm pretty hard core in love with NKJV, but today, I will venture out into new horizons.
KJV "And he shall have no need of spoil."
NASB "And he will have no lack of gain."
Hmm. This is interesting. It's my language. I like it. NLV "And she will greatly enrich his life."
NIV "He lacks nothing of value."
Much better.I totally understand what that means now. Remembering that we are breaking down the qualities of a Proverbs 31 Woman, this verse makes lots of since. Especially in light of the phrase before it, "The heart of her husband safely trusts in her."
When I picture someone having no "lack of gain" or "lacking nothing of value", I think of someone with great prestige and wealth and riches and stuff. But I don't think this is what this verse means. The Bible has said many places that the most important things don't have anything to do with prosperity, but rather they have to do with the state of our hearts and how much we love God.
Now, isn't that interesting? If we are trustworthy women (see previous posts), then the people we are intimately related with aren't going to be lacking. I thought about this for a while. What about that Bible verse, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17
We say, "Ugh, being a trustworthy P31W is a really hard task. What is the benefit?" Here is one practical reward. If we are trustworthy, people around us are going to trust us and be affected by our actions. According to this verse, in our married lives, being trustworthy with our husbands, is going to supply him with much!! That really shows how valuable a P31W really is. Not only is she rare, but she supplies good things to her husband. A good place to start being trustworthy and seeing those benefits is right now, right here.
That's all I got on that phrase. Sorry, laaame. Interesting to think about, but kinda hard to explain. Tell me your thoughts and let me know if I missed the mark! I'd love to hear them. I know you guys will have better insight than me.
6 comments:
From a guy's standpoint, I had always seen that verse as talking about the man. The new NIV says, "Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value." In order to grasp what we're dealing with, this sentence can be broken down to "Her husband lacks nothing of value." I guess it could be saying that her husband has her to value (which is true, remembering the previous verse about rubies!). But I think this one is about the husband, which means the verse is saying that a "wife of noble character" will have a great, awesome husband. Think about how true that is: Have you ever seen an amazing woman marry a scumbag, drug-dealer, or lowlife? No! Any wise, noble, trustworthy, pure, intelligent, loving, kind, valuable woman would want to marry the cream of the crop, right? That's the only thing that makes sense to me. I don't see a P31W falling in love with a drunkard, jerk, abusive man. I see P31Ws falling in love with loving, selfless, strong (yet sensitive), determined, trustworthy, righteous, pure, wise man of integrity. I think that's what it means.
HEY! That is really good insight that I have never even thought about! For real! Hm. You have a point. A great woman will most likely have a great guy. I'm really glad you mentioned that because I never would have thought about it.
I might blog about this...
A LoVizzle-comment inspired post? I LIKE IT! haha!
Thank u for sharing this...def helpful...God bless you!
The P31W must feel valuable and confident in herself in order to marry the cream of the crop right? There are a lot of ladies that don’t value themselves.
I love how you broke it down
So thought on the kjv version .. he shall have no need of spoil. I'm wondering if it means. In this temptation driven world. That if he trusts her. She's his safe refuge and haven. That he would need no other "spoil" aka temptation or other woman in any form. ???
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