So according to the '30-Day True Woman Make-over', Day 1 focuses on "A Biblical View of Womanhood". Who are we as a woman of God? Who's view do we take when we look at ourselves as Christ-following women? Do we look at God's view, or the world's carnal view? How many times do we find ourselves trying to live up to the world's view of a woman, a wife, a mother, etc? Magazines, books, newspaper and internet articles, TV shows and more are bombarding our lives and minds with what the world thinks that we should be. No woman should ever desire that which is not what God desires her to be. Most cases, this is not what the world wants you to be.
God has created and designed us to be who we are. He has hand-crafted each of us, not mass-produced us. Too many times we try to fit ourselves into the mold of those who have gone on before us. (Or those who are around us, which seem flattering to the eye alone.) The Word says that God looks at our heart, in 1 Samuel 16:7 the Word states that the Lord says, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." We need to look towards people's hearts, and their spirits, and try to be like them in that way. In Titus 2:3-5, we are told to "Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God." Older women, is a term used loosely here, and in most cases we don't want to see ourselves as the 'older women' in this verse. However, we all have a generation behind us, which we are 'older' than, so we all fit into this category. The 'younger women' category most of us fit into as well, although in seldom cases those 'older' than us may no longer be living to share the truths they have learned (but hopefully you gleaned something from them before they left the earth spiritually.) Therefore we are all 'teachers' and 'learners'.
I myself, am a people-person - I love hanging out with people of all ages, shapes, sizes, etc... I love to glean information, knowledge and wisdom from my 'older' generation, yet I also love to teach and train the generations behind me. I also enjoy learning from them as well. I love the idea that God can reveal many different things to different people even regarding just ONE Scripture. This leads us into today's verse, "The sayings of King Lemuel—an oracle [a] his mother taught him:" Some may wonder why the author put this verse in, he could have just went into the traits of the Proverbs 31 woman... yet this is an IMPORTANT part of Scripture.
Going along with one of my favourite verses in the Bible, (Proverbs 22:6) "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it" (or in another translation, "Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it" (NKJV) or in simpler terms, "Point your kids in the right direction— when they're old they won't be lost." (The Message) We are meant to teach and train our children (or those children in our sphere of influence). Here it shows that King Lemuel was reminded of the teachings of his mother. It doesn't say how old he was, nor what they did that day, nor what they were wearing, or how his mother looked, it says "an oracle his mother taught him". He remembered the words of his mother, whether it was a lesson taught as a whole, or parts of words that he heard his mother telling him in his youth. We are all called to teach and train (as in Proverbs 22:6), as we need to set examples for those generations behind us. Even if it is just sharing a story from your own experience, it can be seen as a time of learning. A 'teacher' by training/education & gifting, is a different view all together. They are CALLED to teach and train, and have gained a 'position' to teach, and therefore mostly everything that comes from their mouths should be a way to teach and train those around her/him. WOW! What a thought-provoker... as I myself am a 'teacher' by training, a Registered Early Childhood Educator. It does say in the Word "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." (James 3:1) Everything we say and do is seen by those around us, and we do not want to lead anyone astray by things that we say or do, because in the end, God will judge us on what other's did or said because of us. "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:36-37)
The Word continues to say in James 3 that "Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue." (James 3:5-8) Yet, taming the tongue is a topic all on its own.
I am excited about this NEW JOURNEY! Proverbs 31 will show us some of the traits in becoming the woman that God desires us to be, but it does all start with relationship. We need to have that relationship with God first and foremost, so that we can sit at His feet and gain knowledge, wisdom and understanding. We want to sit under the teaching of our earthly parents, teachers & mentors, like in this first verse of Proverbs, but most importantly we should want and desire to sit intimately with our Heavenly Father (and not just at His feet).
(*Editor's note: Check out my FRESH AS A DAISY Devotional regarding this make-over challenge, and our relationship with God, and the 3 R's of Life here.)
May the Lord bless you as you continue this journey along with me,
BE BLESSED & BE A BLESSING,
No comments:
Post a Comment