Proverbs 31 Woman (Part 2) Trustworthy

This is part 2 in the series of Proverbs 31. The root of all the characteristics of godliness we see in Proverbs 31 is rooted in the fear of the Lord. Please see Part 1 for a detailed explanation of what it means to fear the LORD.

Fearing God enables the rest of these characteristics:

Biblical Principles: These are godly characteristics. We see them perfectly and completely lived out in God Himself. We are called to be HOLY and to desire to be Christlike. Here we see these traits in the life of a woman.

Trustworthy - 

11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,

    and he will have no lack of gain.

12 She does him good, and not harm,

    all the days of her life.

And

27 She looks well to the ways of her household

    and does not eat the bread of idleness.

28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;

    her husband also, and he praises her:

In verse 11, the heart of her husband trusts in her. This word trust means “to cause to be confident in” or “to cause to be secure in”, or “to give reason for hope”

Think about those descriptions. We are invited to live in a way that encourages or gives reason for someone to be secure in a relationship with us. We are encouraged to live out our relationships so that the other person can be confident in our character. This certainly applies beyond marriage.

God is completely trustworthy - that’s why we can place our faith in Him. In Christ, our sin of untrustworthiness is forgiven and covered, but we are NOT to stay as untrustworthy women. We are called to grow in this area to be like Christ!

Synonyms of “Trustworthy” are:

• dependable, reliable. worthy of reliance or trust.

• faithful. steadfast in affection or allegiance.

• honest, honorable. not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or fraudulent.

• responsible. ...

• authentic, reliable, true.

We trust God because He is these things. He is always, 100% of the time trustworthy, dependable, reliable, honest, honorable. He always, always keeps his word, He always keeps His promises, He is always truthful. Trustworthiness has been perfectly fulfilled in Christ. Our hope in being trustworthy is that we have Christ’s righteousness by faith as a gift of grace. We can grow in these qualities.

We see several areas of Trustworthiness in Proverbs 31. 

You are trustworthy when you are honest in your relationships. You are honest with your words and actions. You don’t embellish stories to make yourself look good. You don’t try to gain pity or get people on your side by telling a story a certain way. We can all paint a picture where we come out as the hero of the story, and we need to be trustworthy by carefully using words that are honest. I think a common way to be dishonest is to be a “consensus builder”. Meaning, if you can tell your side and get several people to agree you are right, you assume you are right. That’s not the same as looking at God’s word to determine if a course of action honored God.

You are trustworthy with relationships when you will honestly help a friend see their blindspots, maybe even pointing out sin to them, graciously and lovingly. 

Galatians 6:1-2 says “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Another way to think of trustworthiness is to have “integrity”. The root of “integrity” is completeness. A person is said to have completeness, or to be simple. That means not having different parts. The outward self of words and actions match the inner person. Integrity means your public life matches your private life. You are the same person no matter what people you are hanging out with. You don’t change your words and actions to fit in. You are consistent in your fear of God. You are trustworthy when you have integrity and live a consistent life no matter where you are.

Proverbs 10:9 says, “Whoever walks with integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.”

You are trustworthy, you have integrity, when who you are in public is the same as who you are behind closed doors.

You are trustworthy when you are dependable. You keep your commitments, even when it is difficult to do so. A person who says “yes, I will be there and do that” is dependable when they follow through and show up, even when there is personal cost to do so. You may have to say “no” to something you would rather do, but being trustworthy is honoring your first commitment. There may be times when you have a 103* fever and can’t keep a commitment. There may be family emergencies. But those times should be very few and far between. Maybe you need to be trustworthy by carefully considering before saying “yes” to something and not be quick in the moment to make a commitment on a whim.

Being dependable means not only showing up, but showing up when you say you will. We are often late for things when we think “I can just do one more thing before i leave” - putting priority on ourselves and our desires to “accomplish” something rather than honoring the person who may be waiting for us.

Consider these areas of trustworthiness.

Do you show honesty in words and actions?

Do you have integrity, where your public life matches who you are at home? (Do you parent the same way in the church lobby as you do at home? 

Do you speak to your husband the same way at home as you do at life group?  

Do you speak to your parents the same way you speak about them?

Do you keep your word with commitments?

Proverbs 31 encourages us to fear God and therefore emulate God’s faithfulness and trustworthiness.