The Godly Woman- Not Proverbs 31

It is hard to talk about a Godly woman without mentioning the aspired-to vision of the Proverbs 31 woman. A woman who is strong, a hard worker, prepared, a benefactor of the poor. This passage describing a young woman, a woman sought after to be a wife. Possibly King Solomon, the major author of Proverbs, describing the woman his own mother told him to seek after.

"Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting. But a woman who fears the lord shall be praised."

-Proverbs 31:30

God has really laid on my heart another passage of the bible that also describes a Godly woman. This time it is the Apostle Paul writing to his protege, Titus, describing in detail the attributes of the church. The church, in this context, being the people.

"But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in Faith, in love in patience: the older women likewise that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to too much wine, teacher of good things- that they admonish the young women to love their husbands to love their children,to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed."

-Titus 2:1-4

Titus 2 describes the older women of the church being teachers to the younger women. While I am a young woman (only 33!) sometimes I feel like a much older being. I think it was my mom that joked at Thanksgiving dinner this year that I have never been a "child." That I was a grown up by the time I was 10. And she may just be right. 

I feel a heavy burden to younger women. My own walk with The Lord being more adventurous than is my right, maybe some of the things that I have learned can be passed on? As the oldest of six children I am used to being the example. I often feel guilt that I may have lead my siblings down wrong paths at times by not doing what I should be. 

When studying the book of Titus a month ago the passage about the older women really stood out to me. I feel we have an obligation to lead by example and encourage each other. While both Proverbs and Titus should be standards to aspire to, the Titus woman just really tugged on my heartstrings. 

During this next season I wish to focus on the  Titus 2 woman characteristic by characteristic. The first being a reverence of behavior. Welcome to this journey with me. Have a seat, grab a cup of coffee. Let's learn to be examples together :)