My sons have developed the business of buying ATVs and fixing and selling them. It has been an eye-opening endeavor. When purchasing ATVs, my sons have seen every imaginable trick in the book by slick sellers trying to make their 4-wheelers appear something they are not. The deceptions are many. There are the cosmetic tricks, painting over blemishes, pumping up flat tires, and putting stickers or such over broken plastics. There are the motor tricks, hiding a knock with thicker oil, JB welding (gluing) together a broken part, and promising it only needs a small adjustment to run when it is blown up. Then there are the identity tricks, saying it has a title, but never producing it, giving the wrong title intentionally, or worse, having no title at all. Sometimes people are so sincere and genuine-looking that they are easy to believe, but my sons have found that the Bible's words, “all men are liars” are true. In fact, the outer appearance of many of these machines isn't always an accurate reflection of what is “under the hood.” They have become quite adept now at spotting the fakes, the tricks, and the deceptions, but it took many trials and mistakes to get to this point.

​Quads are one thing, but later my sons will make a much bigger choice. I often wonder when they go to pick a wife, if this experience will serve them well and give them wisdom to avoid a much greater pitfall. You see, women have their bag of tricks too. There are fake words and feigned smiles that can cover a sour spirit. There are charm and personality that can deceive and hide a selfish, unthankful, lazy, or prideful pattern. And there are beauty and style, all made up into a perfect little package, that can draw attention away from a shallow character or a worldly mind. Even smooth words and flattery fool one who is unsuspecting and willing to ignore wise counsel. ​

Proverbs 31:12 states that the Virtuous Woman will do her husband good and not evil all the days of her life.
 
Many young girls reading this verse think perhaps this sounds like a very easy task. They imagine a sort of knight in shining armor who comes to sweep them off their feet and whisk them to a wonderful land of romance and togetherness where they only desire to do this brave, kind man good and never evil….or maybe they just expect a good Christian young man to come calling, and that since they both love Christ, doing him good will sort of just come naturally.

Society has hammered away at the role of a woman and the definition of fulfillment, success, and strength as they pertain to women for decades. The picture is painted with the brushes of independence, autonomy, freedom, aggressive determination, goal achievement, liberation, and recognition among other strokes and colors which dazzle the viewer—much like dime store glitter—and draw one into the philosophy they expound. Many well-meaning and not so well-meaning religious groups have their own brushes as well and they paint away, defining women in yet another way—with brushes of fear, rules, inferiority, and other various trappings.     

With all this information and misinformation confronting us on every side, where does a woman turn to find a true model of a strong woman of virtue? As with all of life’s great questions and quests, there is only one secure, trustworthy place where we can turn and be certain to find truth—God’s Word. God Himself indeed gave us a wonderful place to look to find insight into this very question.