Now that we have laid a hearty foundation of virtuosity, we can build a structure based on the principles that God has mapped out for us. It is amazing how God's perfect order plays out in His word. He intentionally expressed the importance of virtuous character first, before expounding the necessary daily behaviors required to maintain virtuous character (Matthew 6:33 NIV). God's perfect order (1 Corinthians 14:40 NIV). So, first we must surrender to God in order to obtain genuine submission for God's perfect plan for our lives, in every area of our lives.
The first area of submission we will discuss is the relationships God has designed for our lives. God requires us to honor the relationships in our lives (Romans 12:9-10 NKJV). Those relationships include our husbands, children, family, friends, siblings in Christ, pastors, ministers, deacons, co-workers, supervisors, managers, etc. All of these people are touched by us when we share our lives with them. Therefore, we must be conscious of our behavior and conversations in these relationships. We must maintain a presence of virtuous honor through the word of God and relationship with Jesus Christ.
A Woman Who Honors
11 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. 12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. (Proverbs 31:11-12 NIV)
Can your loved ones have full confidence in you? Do you bring good things to your loved ones' lives?
Having confidence in someone renders a feeling of reliance, extreme comfort in ability; faith or belief that one will act in right, proper, and effective way. (m-w.com 2013)
Are you exhibiting consistent biblical behavior and language that provides full confidence to your loved ones, as expressed in the definition listed above?
She can be trusted, and he will leave such a wife to manage for him. He is happy in her. And she makes it her constant business to do him good (Nelson 1997).
Can you be trusted?
In order to honor our husbands, and/or loved ones single women, we must be women of great confidence. If we are practicing the behaviors of a virtuous woman, as we discussed last week, we can implement honor and confidence towards our husbands and loved ones. The virtuous characteristics is the foundation of confidence for the relationships in our lives. We have to make ourselves aware of our everyday conversations about our husbands and loved ones (Proverbs 18:21 NIV). Negative conversations about these people in our lives will produce negative fruit that will cause those people to lose confidence in us. Ladies, we must strive to practice honor with our tongue and not destruction. We must cover the all of the important people in our lives by maintaining trustworthy behaviors and conversations.
So when we're having lunch with a girlfriend, dinner with family, working out at the gym, hanging with co-workers, enjoying a play-date with the kids, etc., we should practice restraint in conversations that are dishonoring to the people in our lives. This is NOT an opportunity to vent our frustration with our spouse, children, boss, other co-workers, other friends, etc. While I understand this may be difficult for some of us, we can do it through Christ! We should take our frustration to Him through prayer and supplication (Philippians 4:6 NKJV). We can also join a bible based small group and/or obtain Godly accountability/counsel from fellow bible scholar women of God (Proverbs 12:15, 15:22). God is calling us to a new level of honor and confidence in Him. We must extend the honor and confidence to the people who are impacted by our lives. Practice conversations and behaviors of honor towards the people in your life this week.
I pray that you all enjoyed last week's post and accomplished at least one of the application tasks. A few of you contacted me regarding your choice of the application task and I was very blessed by your eagerness to grow closer to Christ. Some of you completed all three...Wooohooo!!! If you didn't complete any, then we've got some work to do. Not by my standards but by the requirements of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let me encourage you by telling you that it will get better. Whenever you start a new task, venture, job, etc., it is an adjustment. However, this new task, WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE!! Growing deeper in the word of God and growing closer to Him is your lifeline. You need it! WE ALL NEED IT!
This week we will attempt to accomplish another task from the list provided last week. Try a new task from the list this week or intertwine two of them. Expect more from yourself! Require excellence through Christ Jesus! You can do it!!!
- Carve out 20 minutes a day to sit with the Lord. (He is worth getting up early or staying up late for).
- Choose a scripture, print it in large font, hang it somewhere in your house, and memorize it! (a scripture that specifically speaks to you and/or ministers to you)
- Look up the scriptures mentioned in this week's lesson and meditate on them
Ladies, implementing these practices will enrich your life. Time with the Lord everyday will allow you the strength and courage to practice honor towards the people in your life. Additionally, this is an effective and practical way to grow closer to our Savior. HE WANTS TIME WITH YOU! His primary love language is quality time. He loves us enough to require our undivided attention. That is so awesome!! Lets give it to Him!!
Again, I pray that this lesson has blessed you and that these applications will bless you throughout the week. Journey on virtuous woman practicing honor and confidence.
Be blessed,
T. Carter
All scripture references were extracted from The Bible - New King James Version; New International Translation. YouVersion (2013).
M-W.com (2013). Merriam-Webster Dictionary Web Version. Retrieved from: App Store
Nelson, Thomas (1997). Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible. Nashville, Tennessee
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