Devotionals: qualities of a good wife

Devotionals: qualities of a good wife

Posted on December 20, 2008 Updated on December 19, 2008

Memorise: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6)

Read: Proverbs 9:13-16 </p>

In a television drama, a woman was trying to guide her step-daughter in cooking a meal, but unknowingly misled her own daughter. When their dream suitor approached the latter, she tried to impress him; she prepared pounded yam with several ‘seeds’, and a heavily spiced soup. The suitor and his father tasted the meal and took to their heels.

It sounds funny but the truth is that poor cooking can either repel suitors, or break a home after marriage. No man would want to marry a wife who cannot cook because as it is commonly said, the way into a man’s heart is through his mouth. Even before Isaac could pronounce a blessing on Esau, he asked for his favourite delicacy. While I was a bachelor, some young men told me that they were not prepared to spend the rest of their lives visiting restaurants, since several educated ladies could only speak grammar, but cannot cook.

If your daughters are of marriageable age yet they cannot cook, that shows that the parents have neglected their duties. From birth, children are open to learning from their parents. Believe it or not children are great copy cats. They have been designed by God to learn from others, which is why they should be exposed only to good examples and influences.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it”. The cultivation of basic virtues and proper domestic habits in children is the responsibility of parents. However you cannot give what you don’t have. If you cannot nurture your children to imbibe how to cook, wash clothes, do the dishes, sweep and tidy up the house and surroundings, and be motherly, you are laying the foundation to destroy the home they are yet to build. Remember, the failure of your children points accusing fingers at your incompetence.

“House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD” (Proverbs 19:14). If your daughters are raised up to be humble, hardworking, knowledgeable in domestic affairs, prudent and God fearing, the men who would marry them would say they are from God. You would have glorified God in the process.

But if your daughters do not possess these qualities, the men who would marry them would say they are from Satan. In the process you would have disgraced God by your negligence! It is not too late. Help to build a peaceful home and future for your children.

If you cannot prepare mouth-watery meals as an adult female, enrol in a cookery school today.