Forever Beloved

Faith, Love & Truth

A Proverbs 31 Woman {Week 2}

I sure hope you’re enjoying this journey through Proverbs 31 as much as I am. I’m super excited to continue this week with one of my fav topics, marriage. Let’s take a look at the next two verses.

Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. 
She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. 
Proverbs 31:11-12

So the absolute first attribute we see of this woman is that her husband has full trust in her.  I think the King James Version is beautiful, it says The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.  So not only does he trust her with his money, his children and basically his life…he also trusts her with his heart.  Oh trust, can’t we all agree that is such a crucial part of marriage!  Being trustworthy is such a blessing to your husband. How do we become more trustworthy? By mirroring God.

I was intrigued by the KJV version and what no need of spoil meant, so I dug a little deeper.  Basically, he knows that his trust is not misplaced.  He knows his wife would not do him wrong, ever.  Which ties directly into the next verse.

She brings him good, not harm, ALL the days of her life.  It doesn’t say she only is good to him when she feels he deserves it.  All the days of her life y’all.  Every single one!  In our world, 50% of all marriages end in divorce. But for the Proverbs 31 woman, she is in it for the long haul. For better, for worse…for richer, for poorer…in sickness and in health…all the days of her life. She remains faithfully at his side. And he has confidence that she will always be there.  

This beautiful lady strives oh-so-hard to make her home a haven of joy and happiness for her husband to return home to at the end of the day.  There is a quote by Martin Luther that I love…let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave. That quote is a perfect example of a Proverbs 31 wife. 

She doesn’t love her husband with conditions and she doesn’t hold grudges.  How many of us can say that? Surely not this strong-headed girl. Forgiving love is a love that is securely rooted in God’s love for us. God wants our love to be sweet, soft-hearted and lovely. He wants it overflowing with forgiveness. By offering forgiveness, we are offering the grace that God has given us. The Proverbs 31 wife doesn’t cling to prior offenses, tucking them in her pocket to use later. She wipes the slate clean as soon as the offense happens. She knows that will not only set her husband free, but her as well.
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Colossians 3:13

Don’t forget to stop back next Sunday as we take a look at more virtues of the Proverbs 31 woman.

Good News for Weary Women {Book Review}

Good News for Weary Women
by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick

About the book:

Are you exhausted? Women today really do feel the weight of the world on their shoulders. Every morning we are greeted with a long list of to-dos: get the kids up and out the door on time, have a meaningful quiet time, put in a full day at the office, spend an hour at the gym, prepare a healthy and delicious meal (organic and locally grown, of course), and make sure the sink sparkles before you go to bed. Oh, and don’t forget to look great and smile while you’re doing it. These are all good things to do, of course. But the bigger problem occurs when we start to feel as if our worth is measured by our to-do lists. And the messages we receive at church, on Facebook, and from the media only perpetuate these unrealistic expectations, creating a relentless cycle of exhaustion. As Elyse Fitzpatrick has traveled this country, she has seen increasing evidence of this weariness epidemic invading our churches and communities. And she has good news for women everywhere: there is hope! God doesn’t judge us by our to-do lists. Instead, He calls us to faith. Free yourself today from the endless stream of bad advice and discover the true rest God offers.

If you’ve been a reader of my blog for any amount of time, you know this past year has been especially hard for me.  Weary was a perfect way to explain me.  So when I saw this book come up for review, I knew I just had to read it!

Every woman knows that there are certain expectations of us. Our houses must always be spotless, without any knickknacks out of place, not a speck of dust anywhere, and it must smell of fresh cut flowers. Our meals must be prepared all by hand from only the freshest ingredients. That’s tiring just reading it y’all! The expectations aren’t realistic but nonetheless, it leaves us feeling incompetent. So how do we overcome these expectations poured on us as women?

Oh, how this book was needed! Elyse basically says that these expectations do little more than make us feel worthless. Can I get an Amen!! They certainly don’t encourage us at all. They take our attention from what really matters, Gods expectations of us. What are His two instructions to us? To Love Him and Love others. He wants us to believe in Him. He didn’t say “you’re only a good Christian girl if you make all your meals gluten free, wear well put together outfits and clean your house from top to bottom daily”.

This book was so encouraging! I would highly recommend it to all women!

Thank you to Tyndale Publishers for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Bible Study for Busy Mamas {Book Review}

Bible Study for Busy Mamas:
Thirty Days in 1 Corinthians 13
by Pam Forster

About the book:

It’s not easy, getting into the Word when your house is full of little ones who need you twenty-four hours a day—but this study will help!

Here is a simple but deep approach to Bible study, divided into bite-size portions that will leave you encouraged and excited as you discover that you do have time for meaningful Bible study. 

By giving you short study assignments, five to ten minutes per day for thirty days, this book will help you make time to thoroughly study 1 Corinthians 13 and apply God’s truth in your life.

Last year, I reviewed a devotional called “Thirty Days of Bible Study for Busy Mamas:
Colossians 3″.  I just adored this devotional and did it while we were at the beach.  I loved digging into it every morning while watching the sunrise over the ocean.

So all of us Mama’s know, free time is hard to come by when you have littles. At times, even a shower is a challenge. One thing that should never take a backseat is our time spent with the Lord. We desperately need Him by our side to be the best Mama possible. This Bible study will help you do exactly that. It is geared to take 5 minutes a day. If you can’t do 5 minutes at a time, you can always grab a minute here and a minute there until you’ve completed your daily task.

The study takes you in-depth into I Corinthians 13, the love chapter. The study looks at context, negatives, what love is and isn’t and other concepts. Every day there is an assignment to complete, which took from a couple minutes to 15 minutes if I ended on a rabbit trail. 

If you are someone who isn’t very good at studying your Bible, this study will help with that! Pam will literally come beside you and walk you through, step by step. How to read it, study it, go through one verse at a time and really understand it. I would absolutely highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to dig a little deeper into God’s Word.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookCrash.com book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. the opinions I have expressed are my own.