Money Making Proverbs 31 Woman
In ancient Israel, this woman who is praised for her strength and assumed godliness, worked. She worked outside of the home.
Biblical Womanhood is Cultural Belief 
This is a cultural belief that has been branded as Biblical. Beth Allison Barr articulates the history of “Biblical Womanhood” so well in her book “The Making of Biblical Womanhood you can buy it from an independent book store here or on amazon
I highly recommend reading this piece in the New Yorker I love this quote
This is not about deconstructing faith, it’s about deconstructing culture.
Beth Allison Barr
There is nothing unethical or ungodly about women (or anyone) earning money
There is nothing unethical or ungodly about a woman earning money or desiring to earn money.
Money does not solve every problem but here are some of the problems it DOES solve
access to:
- Food
- Water
- Electricity
- Internet Access
- Clothing
- Transportation
- Educational Access
- Legal Support
- Therapy
- Medical Care
- Giving to causes you believe in
- Anxiety over needs being met
- Pain (via massage, acupuncture, chiropractic, health care)
The list could go on and on. The point here is that our human needs very, very often require money. In some Christian cultures, we’ve taken the wisdom of Jesus not to trust in money to an unhealthy extreme.
Deuteronomy 8:17-18 highlight the tendency of many to reply on their ability to earn wealth, which can be come an idol. Nothing here shows that meeting your needs or even having abundance is any sort of moral issue.
Here’s what I want to encourage you to do: make a list of all the women in Scripture who earned money. Notice how many of them are criticized for that.
The Wife of Noble Character Strength engages in the marketplace. Don’t let John Piper or anyone obsessed with him tell you that you cannot or should not.
Processing these beliefs
Take a moment and journal out your thoughts about earning income as a woman. Here are some prompts
Do I have physical discomfort when I think about money?
What emotions come up when thinking about being a woman, wife, mother who earns money.
What thoughts are associated with those emotions?
What is the source of those THOUGHTS? where did you learn that? who taught you?
Who benefits from this message? Who is harmed by this message?
Let’s Rise Up
Around the globe when there are natural disasters or crisis, non-government organizations step in to help. Most of these organizations operate under the belief that supporting women to make money is the way to long-term solve problems
A working mom in East Africa means she can afford to send her daughters to school.
A woman in a disempowering marriage who can earn money to pay for her needs and children’s needs, changes their quality of life and generations to come.
A woman in the US who is in an abusive marriage, can move herself and children to safety when she has access to income.
Women earning money is a GOOD thing. Women having economic opportunity, that is not dangerous to them, is a GOOD thing.
Money is morally neutral.
We’ve bought into a lie that money is inherently evil.
We’ve also bought into a lie that Biblical Womanhood means God designed us to have a man provide for our needs. This is PATRIARCHY, not Christianity.
If you want to shift your thoughts around money & christianity, I’d love to help! Grab a free Assessment & Planning session with me and I’ll help you get clear on a path forward to take critical action towards your goal in the next six months.
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