Wise women Archives - Girls To Grow

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.

Are you a wise or foolish woman? Check out these five characteristics of a foolish woman and see if you recognize any of them in your own life.

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 well-being.

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:

What makes a woman wise?

In the past few weeks, I’ve been studying Bible passages about wisdom. As I seek to support my husband, parent our children, and grow as a Christian, I want to access the wisdom that only God can give.

Through my Scripture reading, I’ve found a list of at least ten important traits that mark a wise woman.

Check out this list of ten important traits we find in the Bible that show up in the lives of women who live wisely.

Here are 10 important traits of a wise woman.

1. She fears the Lord.

The Bible is pretty direct in letting us know that this is the place to begin our quest for wisdom. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7)

2. She is teachable.

“Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.” (Proverbs 8:33) “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.” (Proverbs 9:9)

Whether learning from God’s Word in our personal study or from pastors, Bible teachers, or fellow Christians, a wise woman absorbs Biblical knowledge and applies it to her life.

3. She controls her mouth.

Talk less. “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.” (Proverbs 10:19)

We also want our speech to be profitable and for our words to build up and encourage others. “The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.” (Proverbs 15:2)

4. She plans ahead.

“He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.” (Proverbs 10:5)

Several verses in Proverbs 31 describe the virtuous woman as one who is organized and prepared. This may not come naturally for some of us, so we can look for different systems to put in place to help us.

5. She is careful in her choice of friends.

“He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” (Proverbs 13:20)

A number of Bible verses remind us how important it is to choose our friends wisely. We want the people closest to us to be women who love and serve God and encourage us to do the same.

6. She fears the pull of sin and stays away from it.

“A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.” (Proverbs 14:16)

We want to recognize our weaknesses and keep ourselves out of situations that might tempt us to sin.

7. She seeks the counsel of other wise people.

When we don’t know how to handle a certain situation, we should seek the Lord in prayer and then, as appropriate, seek advice from those we know who are wise.

“A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:” (Proverbs 1:5) “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.” (Proverbs 12:15)

8. She guides her heart.

“Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.” (Proverbs 23:19)

A wise woman guards her affections. She monitors her activities so that she has time for the things of the Lord and isn’t focused on things of the world. It’s wise for us as women to set guidelines to keep worldliness from slipping into our personal lives or homes.

9. She considers her latter end.

“O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!” (Deuteronomy 32:29)

This passage is talking about the children of Israel, but I think it can certainly apply to us. We need to examine the many choices we make – whether small, daily decisions or bigger, potentially life-changing ones – and consider how will they impact our future here and in eternity.

10. She knows that all that happens in her life is in God’s hands.

“For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God:” (Ecclesiastes 9:1a)

From Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, comes this reminder that every event in our life is under God’s control. We can trust our faithful God to always do what is for our best and for his glory.

May the Holy Spirit help us to grow in wisdom so that we can be the Christian women, wives, and mothers that He would have us to be!

What other traits would a wise woman have?

Check out my digital printable How to Pray the Bible for Yourself and Your Family.