There is a beautiful moment in Proverbs 31 where the camera zooms in on the heart of a home: a woman who has quietly poured herself out in faithfulness, and the people closest to her finally “rise up” and say so. Her life of service, sacrifice, and fear of the Lord doesn’t disappear into the background; it blossoms into gratitude and honor. This picture invites us to consider not only the kind of women we are or are becoming, but also the kind of words we speak and the culture we cultivate in our homes.

A Life That Quietly Preaches Christ

“Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband praises her as well.” (Proverbs 31:28) This isn’t a snapshot of instant recognition, but of long, often hidden obedience. The woman described here has sown seeds of faith, diligence, and love over many ordinary days. Proverbs later says, “Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30) Her true beauty is not measured in appearance or accomplishment, but in a heart that trembles at God’s Word and trusts His promises.

This kind of life is deeply Christlike because it mirrors Him—faithful in the unseen, steady in the mundane, rich in sacrificial love. Scripture speaks of “the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.” (1 Peter 3:4) That doesn’t mean weak or silent; it means anchored, peaceful, and God-centered. If you are a mother, a wife, or a spiritual mother to others, your hidden labor matters. “For God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.” (Hebrews 6:10) Even when no one else seems to notice, He does.

Learning to “Rise Up” and Bless

Proverbs 31:28 doesn’t just describe a godly woman; it also describes a godly response to her. Her children rise; they do not stay slouched in entitlement or silent in ingratitude. They stand up, they speak up, and they call her blessed. Scripture commands, “‘Honor your father and mother’ (which is the first commandment with a promise).” (Ephesians 6:2) Honor is not a suggestion; it is a direct call from God, and it begins with our words and attitudes long before it shows up in our gifts or gestures.

Today, that might mean intentionally speaking specific blessings: “Thank you for…” “I see how you…” “God has used you in my life by…” Our culture is quick to criticize and slow to honor, but God’s people are called to be different. “Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21) Your words can either drain the heart of a faithful woman or strengthen her hands for the work God has given her. Who do you need to “rise up” and bless—not just in your thoughts, but out loud?

Creating a Culture of Godly Praise at Home

Notice also: “her husband praises her as well.” (Proverbs 31:28) The husband is not silent, distant, or stingy with encouragement. A few verses later we read, “‘Many daughters have done noble things, but you surpass them all!’” (Proverbs 31:29) His leadership includes leading in honor, gratitude, and joyful affirmation. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” (Ephesians 5:25) To love like Christ is to notice, to cherish, to speak life-giving words that reflect her true worth before God.

When husbands, children, and all members of a household commit to this kind of godly praise, the whole atmosphere of the home changes. It becomes a place where Christ is seen in the way we talk to and about one another. “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Colossians 3:17) That includes how we speak of the women God has placed in our lives. A home that thanks God for them and tells them so is a home where Jesus is honored.

Lord, thank You for the godly women You have placed in my life. Today, help me rise up in both words and actions to honor them and, in doing so, to honor You.

Our most pressing obligation today is to do all in our power to obtain a revival that will result in a reformed, revitalized, purified church. It is of far greater importance that we have better Christians than that we have more of them. Each generation of Christians is the seed of the next, and degenerate seed is sure to produce a degenerate harvest not a little better than but a little worse than the seed from which it sprang. Thus the direction will be down until vigorous, effective means are taken to improve the seed.

And how can we improve the church? Simply and only by improving ourselves: and there is where the difficulty lies. The church in any locality is what its individual members are, no better and no worse. We as members must begin by seeking moral amendment that will result in a positive spiritual renaissance. And that is why improvement is hard to achieve. As long as we can keep the whole thing at arm's length and deal with it academically we may preach and write about it at little or no real cost to ourselves and, it must be admitted, with no real advance in godliness.

This is My resting-place for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. - Psalm 132:14.

This is an allusion not only, as I think, to the Temple, but also to the Oriental habit of giving a man who took refuge in the tent of the shield of guest-rites of protection and provision and friendship. The habit exists to this day, and travelers among the Bedouin tell us lovely stories of how even an enemy with the blood of the closest relative of the owner of the tent on his hands, if he can once get in there and partake of the salt of the host, is safe, and the first obligation of the owner of the tent is to watch over the life of the fugitive as over his own.

So the Psalmist says in one place, " I desire to have guest-rites in Thy tent; to lift up its fold, and shelter there from the heat of the desert. And although I be dark, and stained with many evils and transgressions against Thee, yet I come to claim the hospitality and provision and protection and friendship which the laws of the house do bestow upon a guest." Carrying out substantially the same idea, Paul tells the Ephesians, as if it were the very highest privilege that the Gospel brought to the Gentiles: "Ye are no more strangers, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God’’’’; incorporated into His household, and dwelling safely in His pavilion as their home. That is to say, the blessedness of keeping up such a continual consciousness of touch with God is, first and foremost, the certainty of infallible protection. Oh! how it minimizes all trouble, and brightens all joys, and calms amidst all distractions, and steadies and sobers in all circumstances, to feel ever the hand of God upon us! He who goes through life finding that, when he has trouble to meet, it throws him back on God, and that, when bright mornings of joy drive away nights of weeping, these wake morning songs of praise and are brightest because they shine with the light of a Father’s love, will never be unduly moved by any vicissitudes of fortune. Like some inland and sheltered valley, with great mountains shutting it in, that "heareth not the loud winds when they call" beyond the barriers that enclose it, our lives may be tranquilly free from distraction, and may be full of peace, of nobleness, and of strength, on condition of our keeping in God’s house all the days of our lives.

Trust brings rest, because it casts all our burdens on another. Every act of reliance, though it does not deliver from responsibility, delivers from anxiety. We see that even when the object of our trust is but a poor creature like ourselves. Husbands and wives who find settled peace in one another, parents and children, patrons and protected, and a whole series of other relationships in life, are witnesses to the fact that the attitude of reliance brings the actuality of repose. A little child goes to sleep beneath its mother’s eye, and is tranquil, not only because it is ignorant, but because it is trustful. So, if we will only get behind the shelter, the blast will not blow about us, but we shall be in what they call on the opposite side of the Tweed - in a word that is music in the ears of some of us - a " lown place," where we hear not the loud winds when they call. Trust is rest; even when we lean upon an arm of flesh, though that trust is often disappointed. "What is the depth of the repose that comes not from trust that leans against something supposed to be a steadfast oak, that proves to be a broken reed, but against the Rock of Ages! We which have "believed do enter into rest."