Proverbs 31:26

Everything said so far has been about what she does with her hands. Now we come to what she does with her words.

When she speaks, wisdom presses outward from her heart. She is not full of words — she is not chattering all day, loading the air with opinions and corrections. But neither is she locked in a sullen silence. She reads the Word, she meditates, she prays, and daily improves in knowledge. And when she opens her mouth, what comes out is the distillation of that.

There are many false keys that open the mouths of many — rashness, and anger, and pride, and foolishness. But there is one right key, and it is wisdom: which makes a virtuous woman courteous to all, a flatterer to none, a tale-bearer to none, slow to speak, quiet in speaking, profitable by speaking.

And governing all her words is kindness — not as an occasional ornament but as a law. Kindness possesses the throne of her heart and gives law to all her words and actions. She is a living explanation of what the Scripture calls charity in the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians. Even in reproof she is as gentle as can possibly be while still being heard. If knowledge is power in a man's sphere, gentleness is power in a woman's — and it is not uncertain or fitful; it is a law.