5 Characteristics of a Foolish Woman

Hello, friends, and welcome to autumn! The weather is definitely supposed to feel more fall-like here over the next few days, and I’m looking forward to that. I’m not ready for coats and boots yet, but a little sweater weather would be nice 🙂

Recently I was trying out a new recipe. The instructions said to put a certain group of ingredients in the food processor. However, I didn’t want to drag that heavy thing out from under the counter and then have to clean it when I was done. The blender was much easier to access in the pantry and I could easily throw it in the dishwasher afterward.

That all sounded like a great plan until I got the ingredients into the blender. And then I realized that there was almost no liquid in there…meaning the ingredients probably weren’t going to come together like they were supposed to. At that point, I wasn’t about to dump it all into the food processor and start over. I *may* have gone off script and added a little liquid to make it work.

It came out okay in the end, but in retrospect, I can see how the food processor would have worked better. Full disclosure: I feel like a lot of my cooking and baking adventures go this way. I do something wrong the first time and learn from that what not to do the next time!

There are times when we can learn the right way to do something by studying what not to do. I think we’d all agree that we want to be wise women. So today I thought we’d look at what characterizes a foolish woman to see how we don’t want to act.

Based on different Bible verses, here are five characteristics of a foolish woman.

1. She won’t listen to instruction.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” ~Proverbs 1:7

A foolish woman isn’t teachable. She wants her own way. She doesn’t seek wisdom from God’s Word or from Godly people in her life.

I think we can throw stubbornness in here, too. Proverbs 7:11 describes the strange woman as stubborn. If you want to be a foolish woman, refuse to change your mind even when there are good reasons to do so. Don’t yield to anyone else’s direction, regardless of the circumstances.

2. She tears down her house.

“Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.” ~Proverbs 14:1

I’ve done some digging to try to discover what that phrase means – the foolish woman plucks her house down with her hands. Obviously, it’s not talking about her physical house, but her home. It would be actions that damage her family’s wellbeing.

Things that come to mind are living above her means, spending money that they don’t have. Maybe she fails to manage the household well; she neglects her children and doesn’t provide the things that would make them feel safe. And there’s certainly the spiritual side of it as well. If she doesn’t prioritize living out and teaching God’s Word, she is failing to build the spiritual foundation they need for life.

3. She doesn’t accept everything as from God’s hand.

“Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.” ~Job 2:9-10

Wow, Job had it so right here. His wife’s perspective was, “How can you still believe in a God that would allow all these terrible things to happen to you?”

Is that how we want to be, doubting God’s love and goodness when a trial comes along? That’s the way of the foolish woman.

4. She has no control over her tongue.

“The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.” ~Proverbs 15:2

Like water pouring out of a pitcher, a foolish woman just lets words spill out of her mouth. We could say that she doesn’t have a filter or that she speaks before she thinks.

Honestly, this can be an easy trap to fall into. Usually, the more we talk, the more opportunities we have to say something we shouldn’t. And thoughtlessly spoken words can hurt others.

5. She gets angry easily.

 “Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.” ~Ecclesiastes 7:9

Just like the foolish woman doesn’t control her tongue, neither does she control her emotions. She blows up over little things. Maybe her family tiptoes around her until they’ve assessed what her mood is that day.

Nothing good comes from having a short fuse. A sign of a foolish woman is one who has a quick temper and is easily offended.

As we see these five qualities of a foolish woman, let’s ask God to point out any that have taken root in our own lives. With His help, we can become wise women who bless our families and honor Him.

Can you think of other traits that a foolish woman might have? Let me know in the comments below!

Related posts:

• 7 Steps to Becoming a Wise Woman: Build Your House
• 10 Traits of a Wise Woman
• 5 Things You Can Do Today to Be a Virtuous Woman