I don’t know about you, but as a woman, Proverbs 31 is probably THE most intimidating passage of scripture for me. Here is this woman who can do it all. She balances it all and is looked up to as “the” woman to be like. Let’s take a look at some of her attributes.
– Her husband trusts her.
– She works with her hands-willingly.
– She prepares food for her family.
– She wakes up early. (Ouch!)
– She works at home.
– She is strong- both physically and spiritually.
– She works into the night.
– She reaches out to the poor.
– She is prepared.
– Her husband is known for his amazing wife.
– She makes clothing and sells it. She holds a job.
– She is wise.
– She is beautiful.
– She is not idle.
– Her husband and children praise her.
That is just a condensed list. Wow. This woman must have superpowers, right? She stays up late working. She wakes up early to work. She is strong and smart and beautiful. But, how on earth can we achieve all of this?
I am a check list kind of lady. I like to make a list of what to do through the day. I love checking things off as completed. If I do something that isn’t on the list, you better believe I add it just for the satisfaction of checking it off. Drink coffee? Check!
Do you think that God REALLY cares about our lists at the end of the day? No! Yes, he wants us to be a good steward of the time that he has given us. But, we don’t hand over our list to God and say “Here, look what I did!!” I would probably be ashamed of my coffee drinking being on my list. Yep, that sure does a lot of good for the Lord. Yikes.
Maybe we need to stop focusing so much on our LIST. Maybe we need to just look to the real perfect example. Jesus. If we work towards being more and more like Christ, we will be molded and shaped into the women that God wants us to be. We need to love the way that He loved and serve the way that He served. Ephesians 5:2 – “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”
We need to stop being so hard on ourselves.
I was created by God. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are His workmanship. He created me as a woman with emotions. I am an emotional creature; more emotional than most. I often feel ashamed of this, and try to hide it. As long as I don’t let my emotions control me, this is NOT a bad thing. God created me exactly how He wanted me. He can use me exactly as I am, as long as I am willing to obey his commands and leading. I have to let go of my criticisms and checklists and look to HIM. Yes, the Proverbs 31 woman is an amazing woman to strive to be like, but we need to strive even more to be like Jesus. THAT is how we will become the P31 woman.
What criticisms of yourself do you need to let go of today?
