“Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.” – Proverbs 31:30
Take a moment and think about a woman that you admire. What words would you use to describe her? Beautiful? Lovely hair? Pretty eyes? Nice clothes? Probably not. I’m guessing your thoughts about this person fall more along the lines of “compassionate,” “genuine,” “loving,” and perhaps the best attribute of all, “godly.”
When I think about ladies that I admire, their physical characteristics never enter into the picture. Instead, I value their wisdom as wives and mothers; I see them living their faith, and I watch them relate to their husbands with love and respect. I see women who reach their hearts out to others in friendship, and some whose hospitality knows no bounds. The women I admire reflect the Lord Jesus Christ in so many ways, and I have such a high respect for them as they go through life.
These women face the same struggles as I do. They have their own strengths and their own weaknesses just as I do. They have to run a household, juggle finances, and raise their children or sometimes their grandchildren. They cook and clean, do laundry, and grocery shop, and many must work outside the home as well. They have times of heartache, joy, laughter, and tears, yet through it all, they hold on to their faith, looking to God for their every need.
They are humble servants of God with testimonies that speak volumes in regards to their Christian faith. These are the women I admire. These are my sisters in Christ.
If not in you, I wonder where
Will they ever see the One who really cares?
If not from you, how will they find
There’s One who heals the broken heart
And gives sight to the blind?
You’re the only Jesus some will ever see
And you’re the only words of life some will ever read
So let them see in you the One in whom is all they’ll ever need
‘Cause you’re the only Jesus some will ever see
(from “You’re the Only Jesus” by Gordon Jensen)
“The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.” Titus 2:3-5
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May others see Jesus in me!