The Beautiful Woman

Life has been a bit crazy lately, so I apologize for just now getting back to finishing up our Proverbs 31 study! This study has been such a blessing to my life and I hope and pray it's blessed you too!

Proverbs 31:30-31

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

The Hebrew word for fleeting here means “breath” or “vapor”. We can truly understand how fleeting beauty is when we know that the meaning of it is just a breath or just a vapor of time.

Lately I’ve been seeing Hollywood actors portrayed in online articles about botched plastic surgery or who went too far in their surgery attempts, etc. I read through these and truthfully.. it breaks my heart. These actors aren’t allowed to age in their profession. They’re not allowed to be real people with real faces and real bodies. I’m not against plastic surgery, honestly. I don’t have a problem with it and I don’t think it’s sinful or wrong. However, I think the heart behind it can be sinful. I think when we become obsessed to be something we aren’t, then there’s a sin issue. I think when we look at ourselves and pick ourselves apart because we aren’t beautiful enough and yet, we are made in the image of God, then I think there’s a sin issue. It’s my opinion that when enough is never enough… Just one more surgery, just a few more pounds lost or gained, just a few more things, etc. When we are never satisfied with who we are, what we have, and what we’ve been given.. then there is a sin issue. A heart issue. An issue that we need to take to the cross of Jesus and lay at His feet to find healing and restoration from Him. To find redemption in who He created us to be! 

photo credit www.enchantingquotes.com

As the Proverbs reveal to us... charm is deceiving. Beauty is fleeting… it's just a vapor. It comes and then it can just as easily go. But a woman who fears the Lord… she will be praised. She will be blessed. Isaiah 60:1 says, “Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see. For the glory of the LORD rises to shine on you.” One of the most beautiful things we can understand about the Excellent Wife is that above all things regarding her appearance, she fears the Lord! She is concerned about what God thinks about her more than what others think about her. Her priorities are according to what God has called her to do.. not the expectation of others. She fears the Lord and because of this, 

then she is praised, admired, and honored by her family. Because of her fear of the Lord.. He rises up and His beauty shines upon her!

She is woman who is honored at the city gate. Women weren’t often recognized at the city gate, but an extraordinary woman definitely deserved extraordinary recognition. We can find so many wonderful assets & virtues about this woman and we can all hope that through prayer and growing closer to the Lord that we, too, can be an Excellent Wife (or for the unmarried... an Excellent Woman!)

What was your favorite part of learning about the Excellent Wife?

The Dignified Woman

This is one of my favorite verses. In fact, it’s probably considered a life verse for me. At a time in my life when I felt so unworthy and useless. I didn’t feel like I was good at anything and I felt like a very stupid person. The Lord began revealing scriptures to me about who He thought I was and who He created me to be. I reflect on this time as the beginning of my insatiable hunger for God's word.  I read “So Long, Insecurity” by Beth Moore and so began my journey to finding self-worth. It is such a great book filled with many truths of who God says we are. One of the verses she brought to life was this verse.

When we feel unloved, unworthy, useless, ugly, or stupid… then we can know... whole-heartedly and without a shadow of doubt that the Father has clothed us with strength and dignity. He has given us the strength we need to keep going through difficult times. To put our faith in Him to uphold us while we feel weak. He has clothed us with dignity… we aren’t stupid or useless.

We are daughters of the King and He upholds us with grace and beautiful character. In His eyes, as His child, He clothes us with strength and dignity. This means we are clothed with moral character. Another way of translating these words would be that we are clothed with vigor and honor.

Vigor is to have mental and/or physical strength. To put forth effort and enthusiasm. Honor is to mean we have great respect and esteem. To be held in a place of honor. This is how the Father looks at us!

And because of the confidence instilled in her by God, then she is confident in facing the futures of tomorrow. She is not boasting, but rather this refers also to her preparing for the future.

Are you a dignified woman? Do you believe that you are who God says you are? Oh Sister.... you are so loved by our Heavenly Father! I pray you realize how He sees you and that one day you'll wake up and see yourself as a dignified woman of the King!