It’s Mothers Day in South Africa today, Happy Mothers day to all the beautiful mom’s reading this blog! As I sat down to write my beautiful mother a card, a myriad of thoughts surrounding the woman that I desire to be started to flood my mind. I began to think about the verse in the bible that speaks about “The Virtuous Woman”. Proverbs 31 talks about the woman of noble character and is a detailed metaphor of feminine wisdom in the context of a family and a community. This verse is a toast to woman, honouring us for who we already are in the sight of God. This verse was never written to keep us held with a noose around our necks as we live lives comparing, striving and feeling like failures when we “don’t match up”.
The intention of this verse was never to re-affirm our insecurities and have us feeling unaccomplished as women. We are covered by the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ who loves us and, through our frailty sees us as beautiful, perfect, worthy, whole. Perhaps this verse was meant to be an ode to who we already are. As we live out who we believe we already are in the sight of God we will be more and more virtuous. I believe that who we say and feel we are is what we will become in reality. There is power in the spoken word and our words are an overflow of our thoughts.
Taken from Proverbs 31, this is who I believe you are:
– You lack nothing of value and are far more precious than jewels.
– The heart of your husband trusts in you and he gains from you. You are reliable and have his best interests at heart. You are a blessing to your family. – You have willing hands and your worth is far more than the money you bring to the table.
– You provide hope for your family and are generous to the poor.
– You are clothed in strength and un-threatened by the strengths of other men or women around you. You walk your own path and are not overcome by “comparing”.
– You are not driven by fear and anxiety or worried about the safety of your family. They are safe in Gods hands and He loves them even more than you do. – You take care of your inner and outer beauty. You take pride in your physical appearance because it is a reflection of the inner you. You are beautiful in your own unique way.
– You are clothed with strength and worthy of honour and respect. You can be joyful and laugh at the days to come. The future is bright.
– You encourage others with wisdom and you are kind. You do not gossip and slander those around you.
– You look after your children and husband well, you are not lazy. – You are imperfectly perfect. You are beautiful. You are you.
