Priceless - The Proverbs 31 Woman (featuring Twala D. Ingram 'Biblical Thoughts')

The Proverbs 31 woman is often treated like an impossible standard, but this week's message reframes her as a clear, hope filled picture of a virtuous woman with noble character. Within this edition of the 'Biblical Thoughts' broadcast / podcast, hosted by Twala D. Ingram, Proverbs 31:10–31 is spotlighted to focus on what a godly woman looks like in daily life: trustworthy, steady, productive, and anchored in faith. 

The key insight is that her worth is “far above rubies” because she adds value everywhere she goes. This is Christian womanhood rooted in character, not performance, and it speaks to marriage, family life, work ethic, and spiritual maturity. A powerful backdrop to Proverbs 31 is the reminder of who wrote the sayings. 

This wisdom proverb is attributed to King Lemuel, shaped by the instruction of his mother. That context matters because it shows a multi generational discipleship model: older women teach younger women, and parents shape future leaders. Before the passage even describes a wife of noble character, the mother calls the future king to integrity and responsibility. The message is simple and challenging: if you want a spouse with godly character, you also pursue godly character. Faith and obedience are not optional extras, they are the foundation.

A virtuous woman “brings her husband good, not harm,” and her life consistently enriches the people around her. That enrichment is not flashy. It is built through steady decisions, wise words, and a home shaped by peace instead of chaos. Diligence, generosity, and kindness become a witness at home, at school, and in the community, making “virtue” feel attainable and real.

Missionary Lois V. Ingram joins the broadcast and references Abigail (1 Samuel 25) as a vivid example of courageous wisdom. Abigail faces a crisis created by foolish leadership, and she responds without gossip or panic. She takes action, brings provision, speaks with humility, and helps prevent unnecessary bloodshed. The lesson is not that women must fix everything, but that godly wisdom often looks like prayer, discernment, and timely movement. The hosts emphasize intercession for spouses and children and the belief that prayer changes things. 

One of the most freeing takeaways is that marriage does not create a Proverbs 31 woman nor does singleness exclude one from becoming. Twala highlights that you can be virtuous as a single woman, a widow, a wife, or a mother, because virtue is rooted in fearing the Lord. 

Thus, who are the women in our lives that have greatly impacted us by modeling virtuosity and preparing us for our eternal destinies? We should take the time to thank them because a woman who fears the LORD and impacts others to emulate such wisdom, is truly indeed... priceless.

In lieu of eternity, sermons and musical artists are featured to extol JESUS CHRIST as the sole hope for the eternal souls of humanity.

Transcript

A Poetic Portrait Of Virtue

SPEAKER_03 0:21

In a world chasing noise. She carries peace. While others seek attention. She builds legacy. Who can find a virtuous woman? For her worth is far above rubies. She is strength wrapped in gentleness, wisdom clothed in grace. A quiet fire that does not flicker when storms arrive. The heart of her husband safely trusts in her. Not because she is perfect, but because she is faithful. Her hands build, her words heal. Her presence brings order where chaos once lived. She understands that purpose is not found in applause, but in obedience. Strength and honor are her clothing. Not vanity. Not pride. Not the fragile beauty that fades with time. No. Hers is the beauty heaven recognizes. When she speaks, wisdom flows. When she teaches, kindness remains on her tongue. She watches over her household with diligence, not merely maintaining a home, but cultivating light within it. Her children rise and call her blessed. Her husband praises her. Not because she demanded recognition. But because love was evident in everything she touched. Beauty is fleeting. But a woman who fears the Lord shall be praised. This is the woman heaven honors. A woman of courage. A woman of sacrifice. Give her the fruit of her hands. And let her works praise her in the gates. For behind every act of unseen faithfulness, heaven was watching. And God never forgets the woman who builds her life upon him.

Welcome To Biblical Thoughts

SPEAKER_00 3:27

We thank you for joining our Biblical Thoughts broadcast podcast, where our mission is studying God's Word with practical application and encouragement from various women of God. We now join Lady Twala with this week's Biblical Thoughts.

SPEAKER_02 3:44

All right, thank you for being here. This is the first episode of Biblical Thoughts. My name is Twala Ingram, and today as a guest, I have the honor and the pleasure of having my mother-in-law, Lois Ingram. Um, I am married to her second son. Sister Ingram, would you like to um introduce yourself, give a little bit about your background?

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Well, I am Lois Ingram, and my husband died. I'm at Mac Ingram, pastored in Wichita Falls, Texas. And we had church, uh, had a church there and everything. So I'm just honored to be here today and give some words of wisdom, I hope, you know, to young as well as the old. And I just thank God for being here today.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

Amen. Thank you. I thank you for being here with me today, too.

What Proverbs 31 Really Means

SPEAKER_02 4:40

And as we get ready to get into this first episode of Biblical Thoughts, I thought it would be a fitting topic for us to talk about the Proverbs Woman, the Proverbs 31 Woman. And when I think about the Proverbs 31 Woman, more than one name comes to mind because when I've heard that name, I've heard it said in different ways. Is there uh another way that you've heard the Proverbs 31 mentioned?

SPEAKER_01 5:05

That Proverbs woman mentioned, yeah, lots of different ways. And as a matter of fact, I had one woman, and we as we look in the Bible, there's a lot of women in the Bible that we can use, you know, for an example. And uh yes, I I've heard a lot of ways that you can use the virtuous woman and and uh today how it lined up with today, you know, virtuous woman. And I feel you gotta have some faith anyway. You got to have a faith and trust and believe in God to even be considered a virtuous woman.

SPEAKER_02 5:36

Amen. And I I definitely agree uh when you said virtuous woman. I also thought of in my um uh biblical um the Bible that I have is gonna we're gonna be coming from the New Living Translation. And before we get to those scriptures, it says a wife of noble character. So I would say we could call her the Proverbs 31 woman. Yeah. Uh we could call her a wife of noble character. That's right. We could say she is the virtuous woman, she's known as a virtuous woman, and then just overall a godly woman or a woman of good character. Good character. So I think when we think of that Proverbs 31 woman, we could use any of those synonyms to say she's virtuous, she's um she's noble, she's good, she's godly. That's right. So we can use all of those names when we reference uh this 31, Proverbs 31 woman. So that's the the verb, the verb,

King Lemuel And His Mother

SPEAKER_02 6:32

the verse we're gonna come from is the Proverbs 31, 10 through 31. And even before we get there, we we can kind of discuss a little bit about because I had a revelation, I think I'd mentioned to you, yeah, that we both had the revelation of this was not Samuel who wrote it. It was um not written by a woman saying, This is who I am, I am this virtuous woman. But we we both came to the realization that it was written by King Lemon Limion, whose mother was taught him. And these are these are things that she taught him. This is what I want you to look for when you grow up, yeah, and when you become king, you will be a king. So this is the kind of woman that you should look to marry.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

So that was something that I like I said, that was a revelation for me. I didn't know, I didn't realize who it was written by, but it's always good to go. And when you're when you're getting in the word, you always, there's always more and more to learn. Yeah. So with the word of God, even though we have been in church for um years and years and years, there's always a new revelation. There's always not a new revelation, but I'm saying God continues to reveal Himself to us. You must you learn something new in Scripture. So I just want to I thank God that I I learned something new just getting in the word and getting ready for this show that we learned something new. And before we get into the actual verses that we're gonna discuss, um in verses one through nine, we both were talking how we realized that not only did his mother give him things that he should look for in a wife.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

In a wife, right?

SPEAKER_02 8:23

She also gave things that he should be doing. He should do. Right. This is what this is how my son, this is how I want you to be. This is what I expect from you. Don't waste your strength on women who are gonna ruin a king. Um, she talked about how she didn't want him to be a king who didn't care about his people. Yeah like she wanted him to be a king that is going to um be there for those people that are less fortunate. So, in other words, she wanted him to be a good king, not just look for someone, a woman of good character. But it's almost like she was saying, You need to be a man of good character. You're gonna be a king, so make sure you're looking out for your kingdom.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:07

So that's just a little bit getting ready to get into the scripture. We're gonna start at verse 10 because that's where it kind of picks up as the wife of noble character and the sayings that she told him and what he should look for in a woman.

Trust And Value In Marriage

SPEAKER_02 9:25

So let's start with verse 10. I'll read verse 10 and 11, and then we can do a little um discussion on on this these two verses. So um in verse 10 it says, Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies, her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:45

So when you hear those two verses, what comes to mind for you?

SPEAKER_01 9:50

What is I think of a godly woman, a godly woman that fears the Lord, puts all her trust in the Lord, and she's a good example, you know, of what a godly woman should be. You know, and I like it the way um uh King Leah his mother was telling him, you know, first she dealt with him, how he should be, and then she dealt with, okay, if you're this kind of person, then we can, this is the kind of woman that you should look for. This is what you should look for in a wife, a woman with that noble character, and it's worth more than anything in the world. And that's why I think in the Bible it says he don't want us to be unequally yoked, you know, together with unbelievers. And if you have enough faith and trust and believe in God, you can do anything. And I just think women, I don't put men down. I think women are great. And I like the way women, you know, what they bring to the household, you know, and the peaceful woman, and they bring a lot to a household and looks after her family, and you know, and just show have faith and show that faith that she has in the Lord, you know.

SPEAKER_02 10:57

Yes, I I I agree. I I think that this woman is, like you said, someone who's bringing to her household. Oh, she's adding a blessing uh to her household. So this um when when it's said that she's more precious than rubies, that made me think about something. Whenever I think of rubies, when I think of jewels, when I think of diamonds, when I think of, you know, we like to adorn ourselves, we like to wear jewelry, jewelry enhances how we look. If we I didn't bring my ring today, but that's something when I'm without my my ring, I feel different. So when you have your jewels and and jewelry added um adds to you, this woman, it says that she's more precious than rubies, that means she has value. So when we think of the virtuous woman, she's adding value to whatever situations she's in. Like you said, the household. She's a she's an asset to the household, she is an asset to her husband. If he can trust her, she's she's bringing something to the marriage, she's bringing something to the situation. So I just think that that's um definitely a woman of good character. So she has that trust, she's bringing something to the relationship, and she enriches his life. And that's a woman that we should all seek all seek to be. Um, in another uh verse where we just we read 10 and 11, looking at 12 through 15. I'm gonna read the four verses there. It says, She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. She finds wool and flax and busily spends it. She is like the merchant's ship bringing her food from afar. She gets up before dawn and prepares breakfast for her household, and the plan and she plans the day of her servant girls. So another just this woman is busy.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

I mean, when I think of it, she's busy, she's not gossiping and she's not from house to house, you know, and she's just taking care of business. And when people see her on the street, she they know that she's a godly woman because she's taking care of home, she's taking care of the things that she needs to be, and she's bringing things into her household. And you know, I'll think about a relationship with Christ makes you godly, it makes you, in other words, a woman kind of shines when she's got a relationship with Jesus Christ. You know, and you can pull off these things if you got a relationship, and you do have to grow. And then uh the Bible says that the older women should teach the young women how to be chess, and we should be teaching those things. And number one, not only just talk and show, we should be doing these things even in show.

Work Ethic And Quiet Witness

SPEAKER_01 13:50

Amen. I totally agree.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

Yeah, um, and even though we are two women of different ages, which is another thing that I I'm um grateful that we are we are we know each other, we're women of different ages, we can bring a different perspective. The older women should be teaching the younger, and they're women younger than me that I can be teaching that I can help, you know, even as young as my, you know, we're we're even teaching our our children. Like I have girls, all I have is girls. My husband and I have three beautiful girls, and I want to be that role model for my daughters that this woman is for us in the Bible. So I we want to make sure that we're bringing to everything we're adding to the household, we're adding to, we're helping our servant girls that she did. We're helping just people that are around us. Anywhere that we are, we can be a virtuous woman. I think even at school, I don't go to school to preach, I don't go to school to teach the word of God, but I can, like you said, live the word of God. And I can show you. And they can see that in you. And you can you can see when you when someone is a virtuous woman, it's something that we should see. It's not lip service, like they used to say. It's not lip service, it's something that we should we should actually be able to see in this in this woman. So we're just thinking of all of the things that she is, and I like to say um that I have someone in my life that I call a worker be. My husband, although this is about the virtuous woman, I mean, I think we can all children of God be virtuous and we can all be busy about God's work. My husband is a good example of that busy, getting busy about the word of God. So you know, so just being that virtuous woman, we're just everything that she's bringing to the household. Uh, we just like to um all be that, yeah, that woman and be that example for someone else. So we can always look to be a blessing to someone and to do that. Well, I think that you are.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

You're supporting, you know, I think you are a good example of a virtuous woman. You uh support your husband, you know, and he got this call on his life, and you've got a call to, you know, to uh help him and to honor him and whatever he's doing. Because really, when you got that call on your life, sometimes people wonder why you're doing stuff you're doing. You can't help yourself because that call is there, you know, and you can't

Abigail As A Model Of Wisdom

SPEAKER_01 16:19

help yourself. And one woman that I thought about in the Bible that I really do admire, and that is Abigail. I admire Abigail because she was a woman of noble character and she feared the Lord, and she had a husband named Nabal. And Nabal was kind of a cherlish man, but Abigail, she had wisdom and knowledge when uh Nabal refused to have David's men, she knew what to do. She didn't go talking and gossiping and trying to persuade David, you need to do this. She just was a woman of action. She took action, she got food and took to David's man. David was a man of war, and he was going to kill the whole family, kill up everybody. But Abigail, with her quick thinking, with her action, with her wisdom, the wisdom that she had, she was able to meet David and bow down and let him say, forgive him, you know, and you know, and then and also she saved David from uh shedding himself blood. Also, so she did a she was a woman of a noble character, she was a woman of strength, she was a woman of courage, she wasn't too afraid to, and that's found in 2nd 1 Samuel 25, you know, and she wasn't afraid to uh take action. And sometimes we as women we need to just take action, you know, on things and not do a lot of talking and not, and sometimes, you know, just praying, intercede intercessions, interceding for our mate, interceding for our children, and you know, because prayer changes things. I know that for a fact. Prayer changes things, and that's the way we should be. Be it be quick to hear, you know, and ready to listen and then take action. Listen to God and then take action. Amen. That's what God has called us to do, to take action.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

Take action. I agree, Sister Ingram. Um, we do have a few more verses, but um just getting to down to the about the 27th verse, I was gonna read a couple of those uh verses because we want to also be able to make some application points.

Beauty Fades Fear Of The Lord

SPEAKER_02 18:27

So we're gonna read a couple more verses and then we're gonna try to get into the application, how we can apply the word um to our daily lives and how we have used this virtuous woman in our own in our own lives. Looking at verse 27, it says, She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness. Her children stand and bless her, and her husband praises her. There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive and beauty does not last. But the woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. So that's verses 27 through 30. And again, just telling us about this virtuous woman, how she just takes after her house. We didn't read the verses before, but she took care of the needy. Yeah, she gave to the poor. So she just did not just within her household, this woman went out in the streets and was virtuously looking out. I mean, she looked out for everyone around her. Yeah, so I think when you think of a virtuous woman, I don't necessarily think that it's just talking about a married woman. So to me, you're a virtuous woman. You don't lose your virtue if for say your husband passes away, you're still a virtuous woman. If you're a single woman who's looking to be married, yeah, I really feel like you can still be a virtuous woman looking to marry, or you may be a single woman who never wants to marry. Can you still be a virtuous woman without being a wife and mother? I I say you can. So I think in the word of God, it's not just even though she is married, yeah, even though this woman has kids, I don't think that a virtuous woman means you you have to be a woman who is married. So um those were the uh 27 through verse 30. Um, is there anything within those verses that stood out to you? Any um thing that you would like to say before we go into today's application points about the verses so far?

SPEAKER_01 20:29

Yeah, so far I like what you said, and those are good thoughts. You don't have to be married to be a virtuous woman, you know. And the one thing we gotta be women of faith. You got to have faith to be able to pull this off. And uh and this woman put her heart in everything that she did. You know, she looked after her family, like you said, and her children, and and they called her blessed, you know. And I think you uh would be a good example to your uh daughters, you know, like you know, they watched you how you, you know, uh served your husband. They watched how you took care of the family and things that you and and and a godly woman brings peace to her household and teach them how to love, you know, and how to be a godly woman with your actions.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

Thank you. And I think I I see the same in you. So you're a woman of a virtue, someone that I look up to, someone that I knew even before I married my husband. Who knew that day or the week that I subbed with you at the school that I would be your daughter-in-law?

SPEAKER_01 21:33

So even before meeting um your son Mark Ingram, I met you and knew you and didn't even know that God would have us um come together as Yeah, because you wanted a job in a certain place, and uh it took faith to do that, and God answered your prayers.

SPEAKER_02 21:51

I I subbed for about a week and a half. Right after subbing, I got a job at Fannon. So, but I met you in that in that time that I was

You Can Be Virtuous Unmarried

SPEAKER_02 21:59

subbing. So Um, as we get into the application points of the day, one of the things that really stood out to me in this portion of scripture, this familiar portion of scripture that we know as the Proverbs woman, is that marriage doesn't make a Proverbs woman a Proverbs woman. So I I kind of already alluded to that or I kind of already mentioned it. That's a point that I think we can take when we're sitting here as women in the Word and talking about the Word of God. Anybody who's watching on the podcast, anybody who is watching as they view the show, if you're not married, you still can be a virtuous woman. So that's something for other women of God to know that you don't have to be married to be a virtuous woman. And if we just follow the example of Christ, the example that Christ set, He lived a life that we we are not gonna be perfect like Christ, but we're gonna try to live a godly life that's pleasing to God, and then we're gonna pattern ourselves after his son. And I think in order to be a virtuous woman, we're gonna live by the fruit of the spirit. So that's one thing that came to mind that living by the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5, 22 through 23, it's that love, peace, long suffering, all of those things that if we live by the fruit and we're letting the spirit of God that's with within us, we are being that virtuous. Um do you have an application point, or do you agree? Do you want to piggyback on, or do you have an application point that you like to do?

SPEAKER_01 23:33

I agree with everything that you said. And I one thing that stood out with me is the faith that she had. You know, the virtuous woman, you know, can have you can have uh the faith and trust God and just follow the spirit. If you have the fruits of the spirit, and the Holy Spirit is gonna teach you some things, you know. It will teach you, you know, when I'm headed this way, the Holy Spirit tells me, okay, don't let me rest. Okay, you need to get back on the right, right track. Okay, you need to stop this, you let out sometime, you know, you know how the devil is, we know how he is. We're not gonna even talk too much about it. We're gonna talk about this virtuous woman, but I thank God, you know, for the faith and the things that he has done for me and teaching me and letting me know about this woman that I can still be a virtuous woman and not just be, you know, married, single, you know, letting my light so shine so men can see my good word, the good works, you know. So I just feel that way and thank God for that.

SPEAKER_02 24:36

Amen.

Blessed To Bless Others

SPEAKER_02 24:37

And um, there's one other application point that came to mind as I read about this virtuous woman. I thought about how she was a blessing to others, yeah. Like her household, um her her servant, her the people in her community, the poor, the needy. Um, and also she was blessed by God. So to me, when you are blessed, you have God's favor. And then when you're a blessing, you're extending God's grace to others. So this woman made me think, you know, in everything I do, everywhere I go, when I'm driving, when I'm at work, when I'm in my household, when I'm with friends, I want to be that blessing to be blessed. Yeah. We could also flip it and say, if God blesses you, then He's expecting you to be a blessing to others. Yeah. So I just think that it they go hand in hand. When you're blessed, you bless others. If you're blessed, be a blessing. So this portion of scripture, just every verse that I read, uh, when I looked at um she's more precious than Ruby's, wow, she's blessed. Yeah, she's blessed. Her children bless her, her husband um praises her. She's blessed. Then if we look at another script scripture where it says, Um, she brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. What a blessing she is to her husband. So every every verse that I read from 10 to 31, after I read each one, I was like, Wow, she's blessed. She's just blessed. Wow, she is a blessing. I just went back and forth from she is blessed. She's blessed. Wow, she is such a blessing. She's a blessing to her husband, she's a blessing. She's blessed, she's blessed, she's a blessing. I mean, and it just went back and forth. So, an application for me, like that's my last application point to think of is that be a blessing to others. And if you are blessed, bless others.

SPEAKER_01 26:38

So I thought about, you know, how God made women, you know, we're different, of course, we're different from men. And it's funny how we can do more than one thing at one uh at a time. I used to tease Matt because if Max washing the car, he's just washing the car. But God made how she took care of her family, went out to work. God made us where we can put a load of clothes on, uh, clothing the washer, we're cooking dinner, and we're getting the kids after Sunday school, we're doing all of this and getting and then we own time. Yeah. And there God made us that way. So that's really a blessing. Yeah, we're multitasking. Blessing to be a woman. Multitask. We know how, yeah. We know how to get a chance. We multi-tax. We know how to multitask. That's the word I'm looking for.

SPEAKER_02 27:18

We we know how to get a lot of things done. And so, with that being said, those two application points, I think now anyone that is single, married, not married anymore, looking to be married, you can look at yourself and say, I don't have to be a married a married woman with children to be a virtuous woman. I just need to live by the fruits of the spirit. And then the other point is just to be a blessing to others because God has blessed you. And as we get ready to close our um our first episode, first of all, I just want to thank you for being here with me today. As my mother-in-law and as a woman of God that I look up to, I just want to thank you for being here. I hope that you will be here for many other episodes. Um, I thank God for the opportunity to just um be able to talk about the word of God with another woman of God. I thank God for um everything that He's allowed us to be here to do today.

Salvation Invitation And Prayer

SPEAKER_02 28:18

As we get ready to close with a prayer, um, I want to just say that the Lord um that anybody who's listening today, um, the whole message, the whole point of us being here today is that you come to know Jesus, um, that you come into the family of God, and the only way that you can come into the family of God is through Jesus Christ, his son. If you um believe that he was, he died on the cross and that he rose from the grave and that he is the son of God, you are saved. If you have that, if you confess with your mouth and you believe in your heart that he is Jesus, that you are saved. So coming to the end of this episode, we want to just invite you to come to know God through Christ. We're gonna end with a prayer. So if you would just bow with me in prayer, dear Lord, we thank you, God, for this word. On today, we thank you for the women of God who have come together to just to discuss, to teach, and to just share in the word of God. Lord, we thank you for this ministry. We thank you for the ministry of words of life in which this is a part of. We thank you for everything that you've done for us. God, we ask that you forgive us of our sinfulness, our thoughts, words, and deeds. We thank you for dying for us on Jesus. We that we thank you for dying for us, Jesus, on the cross. We thank you for the Holy Spirit that is within us, and God, we just thank you for who you are. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen.

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