Productivity Lessons from Proverbs 31

How to live a purposefully productive life

There’s a lot that we can learn from the Bible. The pages of its text are filled with principles and instructions we can grab hold of to guide our lives. I have learned several lessons in planning and productivity from the examples, stories, and people discussed in the Bible. In today’s post, we will examine some of the characteristics of the Proverbs 31 women and ways moms can apply the principles to live a purposefully productive life.

“The words of King Lemuel, the utterance which his mother taught him..” Proverbs 31:1

Proverbs 31 Inspiration for me

In my opinion, there is a lot that women can learn from the Proverbs 31 woman that King Lemuel’s mom describes. This text starts with what sounds to be a mother’s plea to her son. It provides instructions for how he should conduct himself and live his life.

Starting at verse 10, the New King James Version of the Bible highlights the subsequent verses as “The Virtuous Wife“. I believe this text could, and should, speak to all women regardless of their marital status. King Lemuel’s mother states that a woman with the described characteristics has a worth far more valuable than rubies (Proverbs 31:10, NKJV).

My Inspiration

The verses describe all that this woman does and from how I interpret the text it appears that she does these tasks with grace and care for her family.

“She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her..”

— Proverbs 31: 27-28 (New King James Version)

Purposeful Productivity

The above text inspires me to do what is needed to ensure my family is well. There is so much we can take away from these scriptures. There’s so much wisdom in these few verses. For example, it speaks to business conduct, how to speak, and even how one should present themselves.

Verse 27, noted above, emphasizes the importance of not giving in to idleness. Something or someone who is idle lacks forward momentum. The text also says that a Proverbs 31 woman excels (Proverbs 31:29, NKJV) in her work. This leads me to believe that I too should be purposefully productive.

Practical Application

Here are some ways these characteristics can be applied in the life of modern moms:

Do good (verse 12)
Find your passions that way you will willingly work diligently (verse 13)
Make the time to work toward goals (verse 15)
Make sound decisions with your resources (verse 16)
Give back to others (verse 20)
Maintain a good attitude (verse 25)
Work with excellence (verse 29)

To Wrap it Up

There is so much that we can learn from Proverbs 31. This post only highlights productivity but as mentioned above there is much more to be directed. Let me know your takeaways from Proverbs 31 in the comments below.