"Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates."
Proverbs 31:30-31
This is part of a series of verses that describes a "virtuous woman," and it seems to echo a lot of verses that have to do with restoration. The ideal woman here isn't promised eternal life and exaltation, though she will surely get those as well, but the reward she is promised is the fruit of her hands, and the praise of her own works. This seems to go back to some of the basics we learn elsewhere, like "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them" (Matthew 7:12).
Perhaps the question we should be asking ourselves is something like "What reward would we receive if we had our actions returned to us?" Likely it would be an extremely mixed bag, with some kindness mixed in with lots of snarkiness and perhaps some outright rudeness (remember this includes what we say to other drivers and telemarketers). :) ... I don't know about you, but if I am going to get back what I am putting out there, I definitely need to improve.
Today, let's work on not focusing on favor or beauty, but on respecting the Lord and his commandments, and treating others with wisdom and kindness (see verse 26). Let's not treat anyone in a way that we wouldn't want to come right back at us. Let's do better, and be more loving, caring, and inclusive.
Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates."
Proverbs 31:30-31
This is part of a series of verses that describes a "virtuous woman," and it seems to echo a lot of verses that have to do with restoration. The ideal woman here isn't promised eternal life and exaltation, though she will surely get those as well, but the reward she is promised is the fruit of her hands, and the praise of her own works. This seems to go back to some of the basics we learn elsewhere, like "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them" (Matthew 7:12).
Perhaps the question we should be asking ourselves is something like "What reward would we receive if we had our actions returned to us?" Likely it would be an extremely mixed bag, with some kindness mixed in with lots of snarkiness and perhaps some outright rudeness (remember this includes what we say to other drivers and telemarketers). :) ... I don't know about you, but if I am going to get back what I am putting out there, I definitely need to improve.
Today, let's work on not focusing on favor or beauty, but on respecting the Lord and his commandments, and treating others with wisdom and kindness (see verse 26). Let's not treat anyone in a way that we wouldn't want to come right back at us. Let's do better, and be more loving, caring, and inclusive.
No comments:
Post a Comment