A Good Mate from A-Z

When last I wrote, I was responding to a reader who wanted to know how to apply the Bible's wisdom on dating in a practical, everyday way. In an effort to answer her honestly and thoroughly, I started doing a little research and discovered something that many of you probably already know. Not sure how I missed this: Proverbs 31 was written as an acrostic. Each verse starting with verse 10 (the "Wife of Noble Character" section) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It's the A-Z for what makes a good wife. In modern parlance, that's the checklist for marrying well; the "what to look for when you're looking for a wife."

In an effort to make it practical, I've written my own version. An English A-Z checklist. One for men, one for women.

If you're a man, ask yourself, is this woman I'm dating:

A -- Aware; of the big picture, of the world around her
B -- a Believer
C -- open to having Children
D -- Dignified
E -- Excellent in her pursuits
F -- Full of Faith
G -- Gracious
H -- Honorable
I -- Inventive
J -- Just
K -- Kind
L -- Loving
M -- Modest
N -- Noble
O -- Obedient to the authority in her life
P -- Pure
Q -- capable of being Quiet
R -- Resourceful
S -- Skilled, Stable
T -- Trustworthy
U -- Under Authority
V -- Victorious
W -- a Worshipper
X -- still thinking of something for this one
Y -- Yearning for God
Z -- full of Zoe "life of God"