Today's theme is "MODELING HUMILITY"
Today's verse is found in Proverbs 31:3 - "do not spend your strength on women, your vigor on those who ruin kings."
Humility definition: "the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance, rank, etc."
"a prominent Christian grace (Rom. 12:3; 15:17, 18; 1 Cor. 3:5-7; 2 Cor. 3:5; Phil. 4:11-13). It is a state of mind well pleasing to God (1 Pet. 3:4); it preserves the soul in tranquillity (Ps. 69:32, 33), and makes us patient under trials (Job 1:22). Christ has set us an example of humility (Phil. 2:6-8). We should be led thereto by a remembrance of our sins (Lam. 3:39), and by the thought that it is the way to honour (Prov. 16:18), and that the greatest promises are made to the humble (Ps. 147:6; Isa. 57:15; 66:2; 1 Pet. 5:5). It is a 'great paradox in Christianity that it makes humility the avenue to glory'."
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
HUMILITY - the quality or condition of being humble. "Oh Lord it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way!" The ol' song gets you thinking, some people actually believe this way. Perfection is what God desires, but we can only be made perfect through Him. We are called to be virtuous women or men, strength in spirit & character, yet we do not showcase our strength, because our strength is only made possible through the Father. Nothing that we do well is actually done by us alone. The Father has His hand in all that we say and do. We are not to seek after the praise of men, we are to seek after the praise of our Father who is in Heaven. All things that we do we should do as working for the Lord. ("Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23-24)
Now, going back to the verse, this is the beginning of the lesson that Lemuel's mother taught him. Very first off she wanted him to know that he should not waste his strength on loose women, or things that actually wanted to destroy Kings. This is a warning, and his mother wanted him to heed to this warning. She knew that other women would come along, especially to flirt with a King, and she wanted him to know that they were not worthy of anything that he possessed. His strength physically and spiritually could be harmed just by following and being suckered in by feminine wiles (Think back to Samson and Delilah).
Lemuel's mother wanted her son to grow into a strong & wise King, and that is why she taught him all these things as a young prince. As a King, you have the position over people, and the strength to attain all that you desire, yet he is asked to remain humble, and not seek after the things of this world basically. God is telling us as women, to not be like these 'loose women' of the world. We are not to be following after people because of their strength or their position. Worldliness may seem fun at first, but after a while, it eventually will bring you to ruin. These sentences lead into Lemuel's lesson on how to find a virtuous wife, one that the Lord is pleased with. One that loves the Lord, and seeks to do His Will, and desires Him above all else. We should not be ladies seeking after Kings, or earthly men, we should desire our HEAVENLY KING above all else. For it is when we are soooo lost in Him, that our future spouse has to seek Him above all else to find us! <3
Humility is also the ability to admit when you've blown it. You cannot be 'all that and a bag of chips', especially when you have publicly made a mistake or had a bad day. We need to admit when we have short-comings, and we need to take steps towards fixing that to achieve our goal of living life in the path that the Father wants us to take. God loves when we admit our failures to Him, because in our weaknesses, He makes us strong. You cannot fix that which isn't broken. A good ol' line from "Beauty and the Beast", "If it's BAROQUE, don't fix it!" LOL! =)
It's a process, a journey, NO ONE 'has arrived'... only Jesus!
*DEVOTIONAL to be CONTINUED...*
Be blessed and be a BLESSING!
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