How To Become a Proverbs 31 Woman

Cue the confetti!! Today we are finishing up Proverbs 31 and completing our Proverbs Summer Bible Study with the Good Morning Girls! We are studying Proverbs 31:27-31 today. We find in the last part of verse 30 the one key needed in how to become a Proverbs 31 woman.

Let's read our portion of Proverbs 31 for our final day in Proverbs.

²⁷ She looks well to the ways of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸ Her children rise up and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹ “Many women have done excellently,
    but you surpass them all.”
³⁰ Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
³¹ Give her of the fruit of her hands,
    and let her works praise her in the gates.

~Proverbs 31:27-31

What a journey it has been to look into the heart of the Proverbs 31 woman! This is my second time studying the Proverbs 31 woman, and once again, she has been such an inspiration to me. Her wholehearted obedience to God - her fear of the Lord - is the root of all the character qualities we have witnessed in her life. It's our fear of the Lord and our wholehearted obedience to Him that will help us to become a Proverbs 31 woman.

This is a woman who never gives up in walking on the path of wisdom that we find in Proverbs. Her diligence has been witnessed in every part of her life - with her husband, with her children, with her servants and with the poor as she meets the needs of those God has placed in her life.

One very important point we need to remember is that she didn't become the woman we are reading about overnight. This was a lifetime journey for her, as it will be for you and me. We must not look at the Proverbs 31 woman and become discontent with our lives or with who we are at this particular point in time.

What we need to do is take all of these lessons we have learned from her life and one by one work to apply them to our life so that each characteristic becomes a part of who we are and a way of life for us. This will require time. It will require more studies into the life of the Proverbs 31 woman. We will learn something new each time that we study her life which we can work to apply to our life. It's a worthwhile, lifelong journey.

Friends, our wholehearted obedience to God - like that of the Proverbs 31 woman - begins in our hearts. As we daily submit our heart and our will to line up with the will of God, we can begin to develop these characteristics that we've seen in the Proverbs 31 woman. 

Then we will enjoy our own fruit from the work of our hands. Then we will receive the praises of our loved ones. Most importantly, we will be pleasing God through our acts of obedience as we seek to live our lives according to His will.


I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been here with me on this journey through Proverbs! Thank you for your kind and thoughtful comments. It was so nice to know that you were here with me these past 7 weeks that I've blogged through the book of Proverbs.

Monday we will begin reading in Song of Solomon with the Good Morning Girls. I will not be blogging every day as we read this book of the Bible. I'm sure you can understand that I need a bit of a break...lol...so I'll just be posting about Song of Solomon once, maybe twice, per week.

I hope you will join me again as we continue reading through the Bible.

Walking in His Grace, 

Laurie

I'm Blogging Through the Bible with Courtney Joseph and other Good Morning Girls! Click on the image below every Friday to read other posts from more sweet friends who are BTTB too!

Each week, I am blessed to be able to link-up with the following awesome blogs. While you're here at Grace-Filled-Moments, please take some time to visit my blogging friends listed below.

Sunday: Raising Samuels Homeschool
Monday: My Joy-Filled Life, Just Another Mom, The Modest Mom, A Life in Balance

Tuesday: F. Dean Hackett ~ Tell It To Me Tuesday, Time-Warp Wife Titus 2sDay, Hip Homeschool Moms
Wednesday: A Little R&R, Messy Marriage, Mom's Morning Coffee, Soul Survivor, Wholehearted Home
Thursday:  Hearts for Home, I Choose Joy, The Evolution of Mom
Friday:  A Divine Encounter, Missional Women, Women Living Well, home of Good Morning Girls

Filtering the Words That Come Out of My Mouth

I can't believe our study of Proverbs is almost over! Today we are reading Proverbs 31:23-26 with the Good Morning Girls.

²³ Her husband is known in the gates
    when he sits among the elders of the land.
²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them;
    she delivers sashes to the merchant.
²⁵ Strength and dignity are her clothing,
    and she laughs at the time to come.
²⁶ She opens her mouth with wisdom,
    and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

~Proverbs 31:23-26

We see in verse 26, with all that the Proverbs 31 woman has on her plate, she still speaks with wisdom and kindness when she opens her mouth. That's pretty impressive to me.

Maybe it's impressive to me because that's not always how I act when I've got a lot on my plate. My plates - yes, that's plural - are very full these days which can lead to feelings of being overwhelmed and rushed all. the. time.

I've learned during times like these that I have to filter the words that come out of my mouth so they are seasoned with kindness and love instead of frustration and anger. Filtering the words that come out of my mouth means that I recognize the feelings of being overwhelmed and rushed and so take a moment to think about the words I'm about to speak.

Taking that moment to think about the words that are on the tip of my tongue is just the first step in filtering the words that come out of my mouth.

Next I have to take those words and submit them to the authority of God's Word. Instead of speaking words of frustration and anger, I can filter those words with the truth of God's Word that instructs me on how to speak life into any situation.

After I've recognized my feelings and replaced my harmful and maybe even hurtful words with life-giving words, then I can speak with wisdom, kindness, and love into the lives of those I love.

The process is quicker than it sounds. Trust me, I've used it often. It's a method I learned from Brooke McGlothin's book, How to Control Your Emotions So They Don't Control You: A Mom's Guide to Overcoming. Brooke calls this method that has made such an impact in my life the "Feel, Know, Do" method. It's really been a blessing in my life.

One of my favorite Bible verses that I pray for myself is Psalm 19:14.

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, 

be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

I want the words of my mouth to be seasoned with wisdom and with kindness like the Proverbs 31 woman so that they will be acceptable in the sight of my Lord. I try to make this my prayer every morning before my feet hit the floor.

With the Lord as my strength, He helps me filter my words.


I can't believe tomorrow is our last day in the book of Proverbs! I've enjoyed the journey. It's been quite the adventure blogging every day for our time in Proverbs.

We are heading into Song of Solomon with the Good Morning Girls on Monday, August 3. Get all the details from Courtney in her post, Choosing Joy in the Midst of the Mundane. She also gives details of what we're reading and doing through October so be sure to head over there to read all about it!

Walking in His Grace, 

Laurie

I'm Blogging Through the Bible with Courtney Joseph and other Good Morning Girls! Click on the image below every Friday to read other posts from more sweet friends who are BTTB too!

Each week, I am blessed to be able to link-up with the following awesome blogs. While you're here at Grace-Filled-Moments, please take some time to visit my blogging friends listed below.

Sunday: Raising Samuels Homeschool; Me, Coffee, and Jesus
Monday: My Joy-Filled Life, Just Another Mom, The Modest Mom, A Life in Balance

Tuesday: F. Dean Hackett ~ Tell It To Me Tuesday, Time-Warp Wife Titus 2sDay, Hip Homeschool Moms
Wednesday: A Little R&R, Messy Marriage, Mom's Morning Coffee, Soul Survivor, Wholehearted Home
Thursday:  Hearts for Home, I Choose Joy, The Evolution of Mom
Friday:  A Divine Encounter, Missional Women, Women Living Well, home of Good Morning Girls

Impacting Your Husband's Life Through Prayer

Today we are learning more about the Proverbs 31 woman with the Good Morning Girls. We are reading verses 15-18 today. The verse I chose to study today confirms to me again the importance of impacting my husband's life through prayer. I also have a free resource I'm excited to share with you at the end of this post that you can use too for impacting your husband's life through prayer!

She does him good and not evil 

all the days of her life. ~Proverbs 31:12

The Proverbs 31 woman has the Fruit of the Spirit of goodness moving through her as she does good to her husband. She does not do him evil. Page 8 of Courtney's Proverbs 31 ebook referenced how Eve did harm to her husband, Adam, as she led him to sin with her by eating of the fruit that God had forbidden. We also learn in 1 Kings 11:4 that Solomon’s wives did him evil as they were instrumental in turning his heart away from God at the end of his life. 

For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.

~1 Kings 11:4

 

One of the biggest realizations that has made the most impact on my marriage is realizing that yes, Phil is my husband; but even more than that, he is my brother in Christ. 

From the example of Eve and of Solomon’s wives, I see that in order to do Phil good I should always encourage him in his walk with God, pray for him, and not do anything that would cause harm to him spiritually or that would be a stumbling block to him.

Today's study has reconfirmed the importance of devoting myself to praying for my husband. Just this month I’ve started sharing my daily marriage prayer calendar on my blog. It has one specific Scripture each day that I pray over my husband. It's not so easy to do harm to him if I'm devoted to praying for him. 

You can get your copy of my marriage prayer calendar for July on my post, Scripture Prayer Calendars for Our Marriages if you'd like to start now and join me in the daily habit of praying for our husbands. The marriage prayer calendar for August will be available here on August 1, so be sure to check back with me to get it.

I can tell you God is faithful to answer His Word. He assures us that when His Word is sent forth, it will never return void {Isaiah 55:11}. I am seeing fruit from my prayers in my husband's life. You will see fruit in your husband's life too when you commit to impacting your husband's life through prayer.

Walking in His Grace, 

Laurie

 

I'm Blogging Through the Bible with Courtney Joseph and other Good Morning Girls! Click on the image below every Friday to read other posts from more sweet friends who are BTTB too!

Each week, I am blessed to be able to link-up with the following awesome blogs. While you're here at Grace-Filled-Moments, please take some time to visit my blogging friends listed below.

Sunday: Raising Samuels Homeschool
Monday: My Joy-Filled Life, Just Another Mom, The Modest Mom, A Life in Balance

Tuesday: F. Dean Hackett ~ Tell It To Me Tuesday, Time-Warp Wife Titus 2sDay, Hip Homeschool Moms
Wednesday: A Little R&R, Messy Marriage, Mom's Morning Coffee, Soul Survivor, Wholehearted Home
Thursday:  Hearts for Home, I Choose Joy, The Evolution of Mom
Friday:  A Divine Encounter, Missional Women, Women Living Well, home of Good Morning Girls

 

A Look into the Heart of the Proverbs 31 Woman

Well, friends, we are in our last week of Proverbs with the Good Morning Girls! This week we are taking a look into the heart of the Proverbs 31 woman as we read about her in Proverbs 31:10-31.

So far in our study of Proverbs, we have learned about the adulterous woman, the noisy woman, the foolish woman, the rebellious woman, the quarrelsome woman and the woman who leads her husband to do evil. We have been warned about being such a woman as all of these here.

Now we come to Proverbs 31 and find the character of a woman worth pursuing - the Proverbs 31 woman.

An excellent wife who can find?  

She is far more precious than jewels. 

~Proverbs 31:10

We find here in Proverbs 31:10-31 the words of King Lemuel which had been taught to him by his mother. These were her instructions and encouragement to her son on how to find an excellent wife. Understanding the alternative kind of woman, which we have been warned about throughout the book of Proverbs, we can see how this was a very important lesson from a mother to her son.

This kind of excellent woman that King Lemuel's mother describes is priceless to her husband. I hope you'll join me here for the rest of this week as we take a look into her heart. We'll look at her six character features as noted in Proverbs 31:10-31 which are:

1. Her character as a wife.
2. Her devotion as a homemaker.
3. Her generosity as a neighbor.
4. Her influence as a teacher.
5. Her effectiveness as a mother.
6. Her excellence as a saint.

As we take a look into the heart of the Proverbs 31 woman, let's come with humble attitudes that are willing to take an honest look at our own hearts to see if there are any areas we need to surrender to the loving hand of God. Let's be willing to make any necessary changes - with God's help - so that we can become women of noble character for our husbands.

Walking in His Grace, 

Laurie

I'm Blogging Through the Bible with Courtney Joseph and other Good Morning Girls! Click on the image below every Friday to read other posts from more sweet friends who are BTTB too!

Each week, I am blessed to be able to link-up with the following awesome blogs. While you're here at Grace-Filled-Moments, please take some time to visit my blogging friends listed below.

Sunday: Raising Samuels Homeschool
Monday: My Joy-Filled Life, Just Another Mom, The Modest Mom, A Life in Balance

Tuesday: F. Dean Hackett ~ Tell It To Me Tuesday, Time-Warp Wife Titus 2sDay, Hip Homeschool Moms
Wednesday: A Little R&R, Messy Marriage, Mom's Morning Coffee, Soul Survivor, Wholehearted Home
Thursday:  Hearts for Home, I Choose Joy, The Evolution of Mom
Friday:  A Divine Encounter, Missional Women, Women Living Well, home of Good Morning Girls

Knowing God as Our Refuge

Well, friends, today we are in Proverbs 30 with the Good Morning Girls. Before I talk about knowing God as our refuge, I want to let you know that all next week we will be soaking in Proverbs 31 which is all about the Proverbs 31 woman. You'll find all the details in Courtney's post, How to Avoid Strife, over at Women Living Well, home of Good Morning Girls. I'm so excited about this in-depth look at the Proverbs 31 woman!

Every word of God proves true; 

 He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. 

~Proverbs 30:5

A shield is used to protect something from danger. Remember that part of our armor is a shield of faith that extinguishes the flaming arrows of the enemy {Ephesians 6:16}. When those fiery arrows threaten to pierce our hearts we can raise up our shield of faith in God and run into the safety of His arms. 

God and His Word are a shield of protection for me. I can run to God by opening up my Bible and reading the truth of His Word that calms all my fears, doubts, and insecurities with this world. I can trust every Word from God. I know the end of the story and do not have to fear concerning the evil of this world. 

When you think of the word "refuge", what comes to your mind? 

A thick, walled fortress?

A huge, fortified building?

Whatever picture comes to your mind, we all will agree that a refuge is a place of safety. So when we read in the Bible that God is our refuge, God is telling us that He is our safe place.

We can trust this word from God because as the beginning of the verse states, "every word of God proves true". I can testify that God has proven Himself to be my refuge, and I'm sure you can too! He has proven His Word in my life many, many times!

God is our shelter of refuge where we can run to be safe as He shields us for whatever we may face in this life. David was the perfect example in the Bible of someone who knew God as his refuge. There were times in David's life where he was literally running from people who were trying to kill him. He always found safety in God. The Psalms are full of David crying out to God to intervene on his behalf in situations that were going on in his life. David recognized God as his safe place.

The same holds true for us when we pour out our hearts to God seeking help or protection. This is how we experience knowing God as our refuge

When we come to know God as our refuge it helps us to trust Him more freely. With each time we find safety in His arms, our trust and faith is built up just a little bit higher. We learn that we need not fear people or situations that threaten to harm us, whether it be in a physical or spiritual sense, because God is our shield and our refuge. 

Before I close, here is the reading plan for Proverbs 31 that starts on Monday. I look forward to studying the Proverbs 31 woman with you!

Walking in His Grace, 

Laurie

I'm Blogging Through the Bible with Courtney Joseph and other Good Morning Girls! Click on the image below every Friday to read other posts from more sweet friends who are BTTB too!

Each week, I am blessed to be able to link-up with the following awesome blogs. While you're here at Grace-Filled-Moments, please take some time to visit my blogging friends listed below.

Sunday: Raising Samuels Homeschool
Monday: My Joy-Filled Life, Just Another Mom, The Modest Mom, A Life in Balance

Tuesday: F. Dean Hackett ~ Tell It To Me Tuesday, Time-Warp Wife Titus 2sDay, Hip Homeschool Moms
Wednesday: A Little R&R, Messy Marriage, Mom's Morning Coffee, Soul Survivor, Wholehearted Home
Thursday:  Hearts for Home, I Choose Joy, The Evolution of Mom
Friday:  A Divine Encounter, Missional Women, Women Living Well, home of Good Morning Girls


 

Learning to Keep My Mouth Shut

Ahh, the ever popular problem of learning to keep my mouth shut! Maybe you're on the same journey in learning it's not necessary to speak every thought that pops into your head. Today we are in Proverbs 29 with the Good Morning Girls, and we find a verse that gives us motivation to make the necessary changes in this area of our lives.

A fool vents all his feelings, 

 but a wise man holds them back. 

~Proverbs 29:11

In the heat of the moment, when our adrenaline is in high gear and our restraint has flown out the window, words can fly out of our mouths that are better left unsaid. Words that began as thoughts that were not taken captive unto the obedience of Christ {2 Corinthians 10:5}. It's in moments like these that our feelings are dictating our words, which is a dangerous place to be. 

We see here in today's verse that a wise woman will hold back her words.

Words that are harsh.

Words that are arrogant.

Words that are angry.

Words that are gossip.

How much damage and pain can be avoided if we learn to keep our mouths shut in the heat of a moment?

5 Steps to Keeping Your Mouth Shut

1. A wise woman will give herself a time-out.

2. She will hold back her words {Proverbs 17:27-28}. 

3. She will restrain herself with the help of the Holy Spirit living inside her {1 Corinthians 3:16}.

4. She will pray that the words of her mouth and the meditations of her heart will be pleasing and acceptable to the Lord {Psalm 19:14}.

5. Then, and only then, the wise woman will speak - if needed - after she has submitted herself and the situation under the mighty hand of God. The difference in the outcome will be amazing!

Learning to keep my mouth shut has been a journey of growth for me. Sure, there are times I fail miserably at these safeguards listed above. But I'm not where I used to be in this area of my life. Why, I've even been in situations where as I was keeping my mouth shut that God worked the situation out before I had the chance to go back and share my thoughts. God is so faithful when we submit to Him and His leading to keep our mouths shut. I've learned to listen for His voice. That still small voice that whispers to me in the heat of the moment, "Laurie, keep your mouth shut." 

Are you listening for that Voice too? Take these steps I've shared today and apply them the next time you're in a heated situation. 

Walking in His Grace, 

Laurie

I'm Blogging Through the Bible with Courtney Joseph and other Good Morning Girls! Click on the image below every Friday to read other posts from more sweet friends who are BTTB too!

Each week, I am blessed to be able to link-up with the following awesome blogs. While you're here at Grace-Filled-Moments, please take some time to visit my blogging friends listed below.

Sunday: Raising Samuels Homeschool
Monday: My Joy-Filled Life, Just Another Mom, The Modest Mom, A Life in Balance

Tuesday: F. Dean Hackett ~ Tell It To Me Tuesday, Time-Warp Wife Titus 2sDay, Hip Homeschool Moms
Wednesday: A Little R&R, Messy Marriage, Mom's Morning Coffee, Soul Survivor, Wholehearted Home
Thursday:  Hearts for Home, I Choose Joy, The Evolution of Mom
Friday:  A Divine Encounter, Count My Blessings, Missional Women, Women Living Well, home of Good Morning Girls