A ____________...

             A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life (Proverbs 31:10-12)

 Before we launch into the passage as a whole, let’s begin with the fact that the whole passage was counsel Solomon’s mother gave him with regard to seeking a wife, and with all of the wives and concubines he had, I suspect he didn’t follow it. If she had been teaching a daughter, she would have talked about a husband of noble character, and it would have slightly different instructions – but probably not as different as we might think. Similar lists could be made for parents, children, neighbors, and even rulers. The same complaint could be made: “A ________ of noble character, who can find?” While the topic at hand is wives, the problem is universal. What does it take to be a person of noble character?

But women have been beating themselves ever since, trying to live up to this daunting set of instructions. It’s like the Law, which the Israelites were never able to keep. It is a standard of perfection impossible to achieve and maintain. But, as with the Law and the Prophets, it could be summed up in a principle, so that the spirit of the Law, if not the letter, could be achieved. Somehow, it’s not surprising that the principle is at the beginning and tends to be glossed over in favor of the laws.

The principle is that a person of noble character brings those with whom he/she interacts good, not evil, all the time. In other words, the person of noble character loves. I don’t think it’s reading too much into the passage to say that the person of noble character loves the Lord one’s God with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loves one’s neighbor as him/herself. After all, who is one’s neighbor? It’s the person one encounter who has a need, so one’s spouse, children, parents and siblings, neighbors, and everyone encountered through the day is one’s neighbor whom one must love as myself, and love involves doing what is in the best interests of the neighbor – also known as bringing good, not evil, all the days of one’s life.

It's still a daunting task, but it returns us to the issue of character, not a list of culturally connected tasks.