New Year, New Mentality
It’s a Proverbs 31 Woman Mentality for me this year. 2020 taught me that I need to be present, focused, and intentional in all of my affairs. If I can be honest, this was a bit of a tough pill for me to swallow especially when everything shut down last March. I couldn’t fathom how I was going to manage everything so I reluctantly prayed. You know how we do? We want an answer but we don’t really want an answer but In my prayer time the Holy Spirit spoke to me and instructed me to read Proverbs 31. Immediately I thought, “who can compete with this chick?” I mean based on what I knew, she was the Biblical “it” girl but when I sat with the scripture for a bit, I gained a better understanding of why a chapter of the Bible was dedicated to this woman. The following characteristics set her apart from the rest (reference verse in parenthesis): She was Trustworthy/A Woman of her word ( v11, 28)She was Hardworking (v 13-15, 27)She was Financially Savvy and Fiscally Responsible (v16, 24)She was strong Physically, Mentally, and Spiritually (v17-18)She was Resourceful (v18-19, 22, 24)She was Charitable (v20)She was Forward Thinking (v25)She was Wise (v26) Looking at all of these attributes with our natural eye can be overwhelming. This is where guilt can creep in if we feel like we aren’t measuring up but if we skip down to verse 30 we will discover the “secret” to success, “She fears the Lord.” Let’s back up a little for further study. Proverbs 9:10 (New Living Translation) says that, “The fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom.” If we keep our eyes on Christ, trust Him, and seek His direction, we have everything we need to get the job done. Finally consider this, the Proverbs 31 Woman did not become legendary overnight. She very likely did the things that we read about in her chapter consistently until she physically embodied the character traits mentioned above. She learned to do those things at such a high level that everyone had no other choice but to speak highly of her. I guess you could say she lived Bold, Beautiful & Brilliant! We can too! Our story is being written daily, let’s make history this year and for years to come!