Virtuous Woman … Righteous Woman

Recently, I found myself pondering about the qualities of a virtuous woman and then wondered to myself, “How often is a virtuous woman found in this fallen world?” I thought to myself, “Probably not as high a percentage as we prefer.” But then the question came to me, “Well, how about men?” I reasoned this question in my mind and concluded from my perspective, I think we would likely find a higher percentage of virtuous women than men.

I did a little research and here are a few descriptions I found regarding a virtuous woman:

• A virtuous woman is one who shows high moral standards and is morally excellent.

• She possesses qualities such as wisdom, faith, and compassion. 

• She is a leader who is active, dependable, and trustworthy. 

• She is also a woman who is kind, humble, and prayerful. 

• A virtuous woman is compassionate and caring. 

• She is a good mother and wife.  “A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband; but she that makes ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.” (Proverbs 2:67 RE)

• She cares for her family and community. 

• A virtuous woman is hardworking and diligent. 

• She is willing to put forth the effort to do what is right. 

• A virtuous woman has faith in God and His plans. 

• She is prayerful and turns to God for strength. 

• She gives glory to God and praises Jesus for His sacrifice. 

But then the thought came to mind: From the perspective of many people, perhaps including the virtuous woman herself, it seems like she has nearly reached sainthood, right? It appears this virtuous woman must surely be in good standing with God and certainly, by peer-review, mankind unanimously votes on her behalf regarding her compassion, caring, hardworking, diligence, dependability, and trustworthiness. People validate her, but what is God’s perspective?

• As this virtuous woman continues to talk to God, what if God starts talking back? 

• Then what?

• What if she starts receiving the strength and help she has been asking for? 

• What if the prayers of this virtuous woman become like they never have been before? 

• What if her prayers start being clearly answered in a manner she has not previously experienced?

• What if God has something to say to her and declares it.

• What if she, who is an active, dependable, and trustworthy leader among her peers, is clearly asked by God to do something both uncomfortable and almost unimaginable for her to do? 

• What if God’s request of her is the polar opposite of her current way of thinking, being, and acting? 

• What if His request will be offensive to her valued peers and cause serious negative feedback for her?

• What if it threatens some of her prominent virtues she has been living and safeguarding for years?

• What if the instructions she has received from God precisely contradicts the virtuous and righteous life she believes she has been and is living?

• What if God explains to the woman the difference between virtue and righteousness and makes it clear they are not the same thing?

• What if on one hand virtue is a quality that is considered morally good or desirable in a person and helps keep one from “bad behavior” as perceived by society, whereas on the other hand, a person is considered righteous in God's eyes when they live in accordance with God's will and demonstrate obedience to His word?

• What if conforming to God’s laws can be and often are different than conforming to man's laws?

• After conversing with the Lord through the veil for a while, learning these things, and receiving a clear request from God that contradicts “a lot of stuff within her”, she gets to make a decision and act. 

• What will she choose to do? 

• How will she choose to act? 

• After so many years of faith and work and doing the best she knew, why is her world now changing? 

• Even falling apart?  

• Why do the things God is asking of her now seem so contradictory to her past? 

• Why would God ask her to do things contrary to what she would normally do? 

• Why is she asked to do things so embarrassing to her and greatly offensive and disturbing to others? 

• This is a hard and difficult task to even think about. She is well aware that if she follows through with God’s request, her life will never be the same. There will be no turning back and no reasonable chance to recover what will be lost. On the other hand, by simply hearing what God clearly shared with her, she knows her life will never be the same anyway, whether she follows God’s plan or not. What should she do? What would you do?

Assuming she ends up choosing God over man and everything else, by definition, I think she becomes a righteous woman, who is wise and alert with acute awareness. As she continues and follows God (Not man), she becomes more intelligent, informed, and clever. She acquires further light and knowledge and is enlightened with a sage perspective and outlook. A righteous woman possesses wisdom and has the ability to make wise choices. She knows what to take in and embrace and she also knows what to reject and ignore. She carefully “clues in”, observes what is happening, and follows her conscience. She has greater discernment each day and receives better views behind the curtains of deceit and secrecy. She more clearly sees preconceived and hidden agendas and addresses it all with wisdom and care.

She lives what she believes, walks her talk, and makes righteous decisions. A righteous woman honors the agency of others and manifests charity and love to all. She submits to the word of God, acts in Divine timing, and understands that is a key to success. By doing so, everything tends to work out better. She is now taking notice of something new to her where occasionally she offends people, but pleases God. This phenomenon (the woman choosing God’s will and fulfilling His righteousness causes a social perception of the woman performing unvirtuous acts) seems to be increasing in both magnitude and frequency. She views a transformation occurring within her and she is strangely happier than ever before. 

I think she knows what she is doing in choosing God over everything else!