I am blessed with many positive people in my life who encourage me, support my efforts and know just the right thing to say. When health struggles plague me, when fear and doubt creep; I am grateful for the reminder I am blessed to be a work in progress. I am grateful God continues to refine me to be the woman he calls me to be…
I stumbled on a blog which talked about the qualities young women should learn from older women. I guess in years – I would be the older woman but I am still a work in progress. Here are the qualities as they are listed in Titus 2:3-5 which says:
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.
1) Self-Control – definitely a work in progress here. She is self-controlled with her spending habits, her words, her temper, her appetites, her priorities, and her use of time. Yea, I would have to stay this is a HUGE struggle for me. I call out for help when I am in a weak moment or in a crisis . My prayer life is getting stronger as I some to God each morning. As she pursues intimacy with God, her soul is satisfied and she finds contentment and strength through his Spirit. For me, contentment leads to self-control and with God’s help, I work on this daily.
2) Purity. By God’s grace, this is something I obtained over the years. The greek word for purity here is ‘hagnos’ and is referring to moral and sexual purity. Unfortunately this was not the case growing up, but with a gift from God – my daughter Belinda, I was able to work towards this.
3) Working at Home. A Godly woman is not lazy – she is to be a hard worker. Okay, I am sure God did not mean for me to be a workaholic, unable to put down the “gadgets” and stop working. The passage does talk about being skilled in our homemaking abilities as well. We should shine like lights in a dark world. We should love maintaining a warm cozy home for our family and those passing through. I have never professed to be good at the homemaking abilities – dust bunnies can count on a home for a little while BUT we are always neat. I love to care for my family at home and am really more of an introvert. I am a work in progress..
4) Kind. A kind woman is a woman who is careful with her words, generous, thoughtful and compassionate. She is cheerfully helpful and gracious when wronged. Without sounding like I am bragging, I would say I am kind. This is why my career in social work was a success. I pray each day I am able to apply the same principles to my Thirty One business. Yes, I can look back on the work I did and say “you did well”.
5) Submissive to their own husbands. There’s just one specific relationship where God has called us to submit and it is to our husband. She stands out in this modern world as a woman who allows her husband to take the lead. This is definitely a work in progress. On most days, I am okay with this and am willing to let hubby take the lead. Then there are those days when the independent woman kicks in – and he will let me know about it. I am grateful he understands it is not intentional but comes from years of being an independent single mom.
I talk a lot about being a Proverbs woman as Thirty One is based on Proverbs 31 – The Virtuous Woman but the description in Titus made it a little easier to see myself as a work in progress. I am a work in progress and JUST FOR TODAY, I will continue to work on this. What about you?
Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!
Hope Wissel 