Proverbs 31 Woman

Thinking back over my prayer journals, one thought comes up a lot. I want to be a better wife and mother. There is a description of a woman that begins in Proverbs 31:10 that is THE woman. I've decided to go through it one verse a week and look into what makes her tick. I can work on the same traits in my own life and maybe feel like I'm getting somewhere. Join me on Thursdays when I'll share this week's verse.

P.S. please forgive all the funky fonts -- blogger and word apparently do not get along. i try to fix it as I catch it but sometimes it jumps right back to the weird stuff.

See verse 28 here.

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Proverb 31:29

“There are many virtuous and capable women in the world,
but you surpass them all!”

Character Traits:
surpass

Character Trait:

‘going above and beyond’

Definition:
--to be greater, better, or stronger than; to go beyond the reach, powers, or capacity of

Verses in the Bible about it:
Philippians 4:8

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

2 Peter 1:5-7

In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

Psalm 16:3

The godly people in the land
are my true heroes!
I take pleasure in them!

2 Peter 3:18

Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.

Philippians 1:6

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

Philippians 1:9

I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.

Colossians 1:10

Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

Summary:

It’s obvious that getting better, growing, and surpassing is part of what God wants us to do. He seems to expect that we will never stop growing, never stop working to be better at doing those things He has called us to do. And He is ever there for us to lean on when we tire, refreshing ourselves and stepping back out to fight. “Running the race to win” should be part of our daily battle. And others can’t help but notice when a person who excels at what they do has such an intimate connection with the Almighty because that relationship fuels and permeates everything about them.

Conclusion for this verse:

Excelling should be something we see regularly in those who are doing God’s work. Part of maturing in Christ should involve fighting to follow Him on a daily basis and growing in Him. That suggests too, that as you grow, it should become easier to recognize and conquer those temptations. While I think that must be true to a degree, I know many older people who struggle on a daily basis with new temptations as well as the same old ones. Satan is a crafty being who knows how to come at you from every angle. This life in Christ is not something that you accomplish and then go on to the next thing. It is ever changing. As soon as you conquer one thing, you are sure to find the next goal waiting. It truly is more like a marathon with an ending far in the distance that you must run despite the heat or cold, hunger or thirst, weariness, depression, frustration, etc.

Comments:
It is easy for me to forget sometimes that I am running a marathon rather than checking off my to-do list. I am goal oriented and I love checking off goals that have been completed. I can’t take my certificate of completion and walk away though. A Christian life is a day to day work in progress that never ends until I see Jesus’ face. I must learn to keep that perspective as I run this race.