Mensa Otabil - Virtue and Value (10/23/2025)
Well, as you know, this week we are talking about excellence, and we started discussing the Virtuous Woman in Proverbs, who was said to have exceeded all other women who were doing well.
Now we're back to Proverbs chapter 31, verse 10. It says, "Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies." I know at the onset you'll say, "But if you're a man, I'm not a woman; I'm not a wife; this verse does not apply to you." Yes, directly it is talking about a virtuous wife, but the principle underlying it is universal; it applies to everybody. The word that is translated as "virtuous" can also be translated as "excellent." "Who can find an excellent wife or a noble person?" There are some things we can learn from this verse about what it means to be excellent and how that manifests in our lives when we are described as excellent people.
The first thing we learn is that when a person is excellent, they are virtuous, and the word virtuous is very important. It means that the person brings good things out of themselves; they make positive contributions to life. That is how our lives must be. When we are excellent people, we are seen as making a good contribution to life.
Have you ever asked yourself about your influence in the group to which you belong? If you work in an office, what is your influence? Are you providing virtue? Are you seen as a positive or negative influence? If you are a parent, are you positive or negative? If you are in a classroom, are you positive or negative? For you to be virtuous, it means you are doing something that the group you interact with sees as a positive contribution, and that's how God wants our lives to be. Jesus says our lives must be like salt and like light; that means we must be virtuous, we must provide good things, and we must be a positive influence in the places we are. That's what we must all strive to be.
Secondly, the person who is excellent is valuable, and the passage says her worth is far above rubies. Excellent people are rare; they are not easy to find, and they possess a value that cannot be measured in monetary terms. If people can easily put a monetary value on you, it suggests you're good, and of course, you're doing something positive. However, it means you haven't reached the level where your price is far above rubies. In other words, you bring something to the table that is so good that no amount of money is sufficient for the value you are providing.
Many times, all we want to see is the monetary value of what we do, so we calculate our worth based on how we are paid. So, if you are paid a thousand dollars, it means your value is a thousand dollars; if you earn ten thousand, your value is ten thousand. Of course, you look at yourself and ask, "Is that all I'm contributing here? Am I just worth ten thousand? Am I just worth a thousand? Is that all I'm doing?" No, for us to be excellent, we don't value ourselves in monetary terms. Our worth is far above rubies; we are beyond money. We are bringing something to the table that is valuable and cannot be measured monetarily.
That does not mean you shouldn't be paid well, but it simply means don't allow that to be the determinant of your value. For everything we do, what we are trying to bring to the table is something so valuable that it exceeds anything we can be paid for. An excellent person is virtuous and valuable in all that they do.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, help me to be a virtuous person and let me be a positive influence wherever you place me. In Jesus' name, Amen and Amen.