The news is filled with how women should be treated. This should be a theological question rather than a “social” or “political” question. In order to understand the value of women or men, we must go back to the Designer and Creator who brought them into existence.

Moses’ narration of creation reveals that both men and women are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). The same verse also tells us that God created people differently for different functions (male and female created He them). The two genders were created to honor God and bear his image to the world in complementary ways not competing or controlling ways.

Both men and women should honor their Creator’s purpose for their existence. When God’s glory is pursued, then respect should then follow. The 31st chapter of Proverbs is the record of King Lemuel remembering what his mother had taught him. This chapter is the culmination of the entire book’s contrast of lady wisdom and lady folly. Wisdom and folly are personified as women calling for man’s attention. The final chapter describes one of the wisest things man may ever do–to find a wise woman.

When that wise woman is found, she should be praised as a prize. Proverbs 31:30 says, “Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD will be praised.” Note first the requirement for praise is that she “fears the LORD.” Then the reward of that character is that she “will be praised.” Let us be thankful today for every Godly woman. Let us be especially thankful today for the Godly women in our own lives who have helped us to see God’s image and be shaped into the same.