Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Challenge #3: Proverbs 31:12

My Time as a Proverbs 31:11 Woman:


"The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil."


So, this week I was aiming to be more trustworthy and I decided to put my main focus on gossiping. Whoa baby! I hadn’t realized how many opportunities arise to gossip during a week, nothing really concerning my husband, but about things going on around me. I don’t really think that I’m much of a gossiper but it’s easy to sit there and listen to someone gossip or to make a small comment about something. Every time I found myself partaking in gossip, I tried to say something positive about the situation or bring up a new subject altogether. It made me realize how unproductive that kind of conversation really is…it takes away from meaningful discussions that I could be having, it could stress me out, it could turn people away from God if they hear me gossiping, and most importantly it doesn’t honor God. Isn’t that our main purpose? Aren’t we all trying to be more Christ-like in our daily lives? How can we portray Christ when we are participating in meaningless chit-chat? The Bible even talks about how unruly the tongue is in James 3:1-12, more specifically in verse 8 “But no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” Thankfully, with a lot of practice and God’s grace we can aim to have our actions and words bring glory to Him.


We can learn to be trustworthy to our husband and others in so many different ways, and some of the comments from my earlier post were so encouraging that I wanted to share with you. Here are just a few of them:


“If we are always thinking about the most positive aspects of our hubby then that will be what overflows in our speech.”


“I want my husband to trust me with everything (the way I spend my time during the day while I'm at home, how I make wise decisions with money, how I talk about him and lift him up, etc).”


“Ensuring we are a trustworthy person reflects striving towards selflessness by putting the other's need to know they can have confidence in us above our own desires to vent or find common ground among friends.”


How did you do with this challenge? Where you able to build, uplift or encourage someone this week by being more trustworthy?


Challenge #3: Proverbs 31:12


“She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.”


Umm…ALL the days of her life? Really? Do I have to? What about when he is really cranky; or when he makes a mess and doesn’t clean up after himself; or when he is rude to me? Surely, I don’t have to do good to him then, right? Or what about when I am too tired; or I’m too busy; what if I’ve just had a rough day and I don’t feel like being nice and doing good? YES, I must. Why? Because that’s what God commanded me to do.


A good woman is unshaken, unmoved, faithful, ceaseless, enduring, unchanging, loyal and permanent. This means she is consistent in her love. She isn’t all lovey-dovey one minute and then a crazy woman the next. She makes it her constant business to do him good.


In what ways can you do good to your husband?

- You can be their cheerleader! You need to be there to encourage him, his ideas and his hobbies.

- You need to make him feel important and loved. It’s important to greet your husband when he has just come home from a long day at work. Sure, you may have had a crazy day too (at work, laundry, dishes, housecleaning, making dinner, breaking up fights, cleaning up after the dog, wiping butts and noses, etc) but that initial greeting can set the tone for the rest of the day/evening. What message does it send to him when he walks in the door and no one is there to greet him with a kiss? Was he missed, are you thankful he went to work, do you even care he is home?

- You need to set time aside for him. Make sure you are having regular dates to spend time alone with your husband – especially if you have kids. Don’t get me wrong, kids are wonderful and all but we need a break every once in a while. If you are able to get out and have a night on the town, good for you! If you aren’t, then make a date at home. After the kids go to bed, have a candlelit dinner and some adult conversation – no talk about kids, work, home projects, etc. Just spend some quality time together.


It all comes down to your attitude. Realize that your attitude is more important than your actual deeds. For if our attitude is one living without faith and dependence on Christ's strength, then our service to our husbands, children, friends is all in vain. Because we will inevitably wear ourselves out trying to be the perfect woman all on our own, thereby attributing no glory to God.


In order to do any good to our husbands, we need to practice humility.

3 comments:

  1. Good post Julie, thanks for the reminder to guard our mouths :)

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  2. This was such a awesome post Julie. You are a wonderful writer! Thank you for this blessing and reminder today.

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  3. Lovely reminder Julie! Thank you!

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