“Many women have done noble deeds,
but you surpass them all!”
Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting,
but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised."
~Proverbs 31:29-30
Last week we began a month-long study on the characteristics of a godly woman. Today, we continue that study by looking at 3 more characteristics. Godly women are:
• Respectful
Christians in general are commanded by God to consider others as more important than themselves (Philippians 2:3), to honor and esteem others (Romans 12:10), and to obey governing authorities (Romans 13:1). Wives are also called to be voluntarily submissive to their husbands (Ephesians 5:22), respectful (Ephesians 5:33), and the opposite of the nagging wife in Proverbs (see Proverbs Proverbs 27:15-20).
• Wise
Interestingly, not only does the Proverbs 31 woman speak with wisdom and kindness (verse 26), but wisdom itself is exemplified in Proverbs 9 as a woman. For those who seek to always silence women in any and all spheres because they are supposedly more easily deceived is to ignore the clear teachings of this chapter. Priscilla is another wonderful example of this in Acts 18:26 when she, along with her husband, pulled aside the evangelist Apollos and taught him the true gospel.
• Meek and Quiet
Here we come again to a passage we already looked at earlier this month and found that it is not referring to women having to speak softly and exhibit a weak personality. Rather, when we look at the example of Christ - Who is our ultimate example, after all! - we see that even as He exhibited the character quality of meekness, He did so with great strength and fortitude (which true meekness requires!). He also encouraged His followers - men and women both! - to be meek (see Matthew 5:5). This is not a strictly feminine quality or a sign of weakness in any way.
Questions for Reflection:
1) What are your thoughts about the reality that we first looked at last week that the character qualities of a godly woman are to be largely the same as those of a godly man (with the ultimately godly Man, Jesus, the Son of God, being our ultimate example)?
2) Are there really all that very many differences between the sexes? They are far from interchangeable, to be sure, and were designed with differences. But are there as many differences as we commonly think there are?
3) How does Philippians 2:13 ("for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.") combat any feelings you may have that you have to "muster up" these character qualities yourself and make them happen on your own?
4) What character quality from this list are you going to pray that the Spirit of God cultivate in your heart and life?
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