My Mother turned 100 years old this year!!
This is a current picture…I am abundantly blessed…
MOTHER’S DAY was yesterday and I was reminded of “a story about four preachers who were discussing the merits of the various translations of the Bible. One liked the King James Version best because of its simple, yet beautiful English. Another liked the American Revised Version best because it is more literal and comes nearer the original Hebrew and Greek. Still another liked Moffatt’s translation best because of its up-to-date vocabulary. The fourth minister was silent! When asked to express his opinion, he replied, ‘ I like my Mother’s translationbest.’ The other three expressed surprise. They didn’t know his mother had translated the Bible. ‘Yes, she did,’ he replied. ‘She translated it into life, and it was the most clear and convincing translation I ever saw!’”
There is a woman in the Bible…we don’t know her name or what she looked like or her personality. We learn of her character and we know she “was her own person”. She took full responsible for herself and her family. She was not a victim in life making excuses. While reading Proverbs 31: 10-31 I noted her some of her multiple characteristics.
This is the mom we all want to be to our children and grandchildren.
Let’s take a look at this unnamed godly woman whose actions
were extraordinary and pleasing to the LORD.
This godly woman is PURE. “Who can find a virtuous woman of moral excellence and purity of spirit that radiates from her life, as she obeys God’s Word? For her price is above rubies.” Vs. 10
She is TRUSTWORTHY and “the heart of her husband can safely trust in her, so that he lacks nothing of value.” Vs. 11 Can your husband have full confidence you in all areas of your life?
She is COMMITTED and “will do him good and not evil all the days of her life!” Vs.12
She is DILIGENT andRESOURCEFUL and this is demonstrated in vss. 13-16 where she “selects wool and flax and eagerly works willingly with her hands…she gets up while it is still dark (!) and provides food for her family and servant girls…and then, she considers a field and buys it (!) and then,…with the fruit of her hands (her earnings) she plants a vineyard”. (Is sheINDUSTRIOUS, or what?!!)
She is BOLDLY DETERMINED and girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong for her tasks. She is physically fit! How do you view exercise? She sets about her work vigorously (goal- oriented!). She sees that her trading is profitable (good business sense) and her lamp does not go out at night, but her “wonder woman” hand holds the distaff and she grasps the spindle with her fingers!! Vs. 17-19
She is COMPASSIONATE and opens her arms to poor and needy. Vs.20
She isWISE and unafraid of the snow for her household. Why, you ask? Because she prepares ahead of time and makes fine scarlet and purple linen for ALL of her household! She is CREATIVE. Strength, dignity and honor are her clothing…
She has a SENSE OF HUMOR because she can “laugh at the days to come”. She speaks with wisdom (ability to see life from God’s perspective, not our own! She understood God-control and the blessing of surrendering to Him her choices and her faithful instruction is spoken in kindness. Vs. 21-27
She is HONORED and her children call her blessed. She respects her husband and he praises her by saying, “Many women do NOBLE things, but you surpass them all!”
“Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her the fruit of her hands and let her own works praise her in the gates.” Vs. 28-31
Are you this godly woman?
Are you being praised at the gates?
~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America. Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California. My passion is discipling and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights.
