#at my Christian school in HS youth group at women's retreat in college min Bible study at conferences in women's books and podcast and and

[queenlucythevaliant]

If you don't mind me asking, how would you like

to see Proverbs 31 used? The part that always bugs me about how it's used is how the churches I've attended completely ignore the part where the woman described is working and trading outside the home. They try and use it as "you should stay home and raise kids" defense.

Mostly, I'd just like to see it used less?

In my experience, there's an undercurrent to the way that this passage gets used that's like, "...and this is the part of the Bible for women!" This really gets under my skin because it just isn't true at all. The WHOLE Bible is for women and the whole Bible is for men. I don't like the insinuation that women should keep returning again and again to this one passage when there's the entire Bible right there to study. Romans is ours too! And Genesis! Isaiah! 2 Timothy! Joel! Revelation!

Biblical womanhood (whatever we mean by that) must begin with women being well-versed in the whole Bible, and that can't happen if Proverbs 31 is treated like a banner chapter for so much of women's min. Proverbs 30 is actually the one part of Proverbs that really moves me (specifically "Feed me with the food that is needful for me...") and I've never gotten to study it in a formal context! Meanwhile, I've sat through seminars and studies and read books and listened to podcasts giving me Proverbial 31 and telling me, "Here ya go," like it's Necessary and Sufficient for Biblical Womanhood. And these two chapters are right next to each other!

Granted, I'm not a guy, but I don't see men's ministry pulling a few specific bits of Scripture and saying, "These are the Men's Chapters." There's just a presumption that the whole of Scripture is relevant to men.

In fact, if you really want to get into it, Proverbs 31 is actually directed more at men than women, saying, "this is the kind of woman you should marry." If we took half the Proverbs 31 talks directed at women and gave them to men, I think that would be a big improvement.

(I know I'm being somewhat hyperbolic here in places. I've been sitting on this ask for a little while knowing that it was basically unavoidable trying to refine my answer and like. Sorry. I am Frustrated and this is what you get from me.)