Noble Character

           A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones. (Proverbs 12:4)

          My first thought on reading this verse this morning was that I’m single. My second thought was of a blog I wrote some time ago about Proverbs 31. One of the points in that post was that the author happened to be a mother teaching her son about what sort of wife to find. Had the mother (or father) been teaching a daughter, it wouldn’t have been very different. Yes, the description of the quality or its application might have been different, but the same qualities would likely have been praised:

          A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown.

          A husband of noble character is his wife’s crown.  

          A son/daughter of noble character is his/her parents’ crown.

          A neighbor of noble character is a neighborhood’s crown.

          Etc.

          So, what does a noble character look like? One source suggested the following, and I like that the title says “ten,” but they narrow it down to five key takeaways.

• Responsibility defines noble persons.
• Kindness impacts every action.
• Courage builds a noble character.
• Integrity is the backbone of nobility.
• Wisdom guides noble decisions. (10 Traits of a Truly Noble Person (and How to Embrace Them) - Personality)

Now, you may have other ideas about what a noble character includes, and that’s fine. Whatever it is, the question then becomes, what changes do you need to make to become that person of noble character?