Proverbs 31:25- "She is a woman of strength and dignity..." (TLB)
Proverbs 31:25- "Her clothes are strength and honor." (NLV)
To be respected (according to the dictionary) means:
"esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability..." "to hold in esteem or honor."
When we are respected, we are seen worthy enough to receive regard or consideration. If you are a respected scientist in your field, that means you have worked hard to understand your particular science and others recognize that work and knowledge. If you are a respected woman of God, it means that you have worked hard to learn about God, His Word, His goodness, how He has called us to live our lives... and others recognize this work.
Matthew 7:15-20 states:
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." (KJV)
People Will Know You By Your Actions: "“Be careful of false prophets. They come to you and look gentle like sheep. But they are really dangerous like wolves. You will know these people because of the things they do. Good things don’t come from bad people, just as grapes don’t come from thornbushes. And figs don’t come from thorny weeds. In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit. And bad trees produce bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit. And a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. You will know these false prophets by what they produce." (ICB)
"Along the way, watch out for false prophets. They will come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath that quaint and innocent wool, they are hungry wolves. But you will recognize them by their fruits. You don’t find sweet, delicious grapes growing on thorny bushes, do you? You don’t find delectable figs growing in the midst of prickly thistles. People and their lives are like trees. Good trees bear beautiful, tasty fruit, but bad trees bear ugly, bitter fruit. A good tree cannot bear ugly, bitter fruit; nor can a bad tree bear fruit that is beautiful and tasty. And what happens to the rotten trees? They are cut down. They are used for firewood. When a prophet comes to you and preaches this or that, look for his fruits: sweet or sour? rotten or ripe?" (VOICE)
We will know people by their TRUE actions-- and people will know us by our TRUE actions. People can be fake for a period of time, but eventually true colors-- their true fruits-- will show. And as the Bible says, good fruit and bad fruit cannot come from the same tree. We can listen to people talk, we can observe their random actions through out the day, but pay attention to their true actions-- their true fruits-- it will reveal a lot about their character.
We need to remember this. The Proverbs 31 woman was a respected and strong woman. The people saw her character and esteemed her for that. How many people would esteem us through out the day by our character? By the fruits we have? Jesus said they would know us by our fruits. What is your character? Not just in public... but alone.
I'll be honest, I haven't produced good fruits the past few years. I would venture to say I might not be respected by some. Might be seen as a 'bad apple' to others. I have sought God's face for weeks to change my character.. fix my soul.. help me to produce GOOD things in my life...in my family's life. I want to be a person of strong character. Someone that people can't say anything bad about. And I know it might take time, but Jesus Christ is helping me work my way back.
What kind of fruits should we emit?
Galatians 5:22-23 gives a great description of them! The verses list the 'Fruits of the Spirit.'
"The Holy Spirit produces a different kind of fruit: unconditional love, joy, peace, patience, kindheartedness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. You won’t find any law opposed to fruit like this." (VOICE)
"But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law." (AMP)
I have an amazing study Bible that I get to utilize while reading and I took the definitions for each of these from that! It is called 'Life in the Spirit Study Bible' and I would recommend it to anyone!
LOVE: charity, caring for the good of another person without motive or personal gain.
JOY: the feeling of gladness based on the grace and blessings of Jesus Christ
PEACE: the rest of the heart and mind based on knowledge that all is well between the believer and Jesus. We have no need for anxiety.
LONGSUFFERING: endurance, patience, being slow to anger.
GENTLENESS: kindness, not wanting to hurt anyone or cause them pain.
GOODNESS: zeal for truth and righteousness and a hatred for evil
FAITH: firm and unswerving loyalty to a person whom one is united by promise, commitment, trust, honesty
MEEKNESS: gentleness, restraint coupled with strength and courage
TEMPERANCE: self-control, mastering one's own desires and passions
Side note: God has been dealing with me about doing a blog about the fruits of the spirit next. A larger breakdown- so stay tuned for that! I plan on starting it Friday, May 26th.
These are the fruit we should be seeking after.... and we should be casting aside fruits of anger, wrath, bitterness, uncleanness... all the acts of sinful nature.
What do we want people to say about us? Do we want them to say 'She was a hateful person. She talked about everyone. She was constantly unhappy. She made fun of people. She was always complaining. She never spent time with her family. She was selfish. She was a miserable person.' or do we want them to say, 'She was such a good-hearted woman. She always saw the bright side of things. She never said a bad thing about anyone. She was so sweet. Always kind. Always wanted to help others. She was so patient and gentle."
God, help me be the latter! Help me be the woman emitting love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. I want to be a woman known for her good fruits. I want to be a woman like the Proverbs 31 woman-- a woman that is strong and respected. Thank You for consistently changing my life.. changing my heart.. fixing my soul. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment