With another birthday approaching, I am oh, so, aware of how fleeting anything external is. Crows have become my favorite bird, since I’m wearing them so proudly around my eyes.  =)  Proverbs 31:30 says, “Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.” 

Probably all of us have had moments in which we’ve had a love/hate relationship with the attributes of the Virtuous woman.  The list in Proverbs 31 is overwhelming when we are looking at ourselves.  No, it’s impossible!  But let’s back up a second and look at verse 10 that says, “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies”  The starting place is being not a wife that is virtuous, but a woman who is virtuous.  The character of a woman is the only thing that doesn’t fade with her age!

So the next question is, how do we become a woman of virtue – a woman of character?  We don’t jump at the whole list and run to all over the place trying to cover all the bases.  It must begin with our relationship with the Lord.  We cannot obtain moral excellence without first being spiritually excellent, and that only comes through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  After salvation comes the step by step process of sanctification – of being made like Christ.  It’s not about perfection; it’s about change empowered by the Holy Spirit.  Any woman who is really honest with themselves will readily admit the need to change. 

• My selfishness must be changed to generosity.
• My laziness must be changed to diligence.
• My indifference must be changed to compassion.
• My unfaithfulness must be changed to dependability.
• My rigidity must be changed to flexibility.
• My pride must be changed to meekness.
• My disrespect must be changed to reverence.
• My callousness must be changed to sensitivity
• My unfaithfulness must be changed to loyalty.

When we look at Christ, we see that He is All in all.  He is always compassionate, diligent, meek, loving, forgiving, submissive, merciful and everything else we need to be.  Therefore, His Word is full of examples of how you and I can have these traits in our lives.  We don’t have to try to figure out what these traits look like; they are pictured for us in the Scripture.  Wouldn’t it be wise for us to study these traits and learn how to apply them to our lives?  No face cream applied to our faces will do for us what godly character will do. 

Will you join me on Thursdays for a look at the application of godly character?  We’ll take one trait at a time.  We’ll define it, find it illustrated in Scripture, and see how to apply it to our every day lives. 

Who can find a virtuous woman?  May they find one in you and me!

With love,