Proverbs 31:30- "Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be GREATLY PRAISED."
The last part of Proverbs 31:30 is a promise. It says that a woman who fears the Lord (respects and obeys Him) will be greatly praised. What does it mean to be praised, who should we give the credit to, and what should we want to be praised for?
Being "Greatly Praised" means that people admire you and often give you compliments. Girls get praised for a lot of things like their clothes, their hair, their attitude, their personality, how many boys like them, how cool they are, ETC. Proverbs 31:30 tells us that outward attractiveness is misleading. It also says that outer beauty will fade away and become worth nothing. So, the only way that you will ever be greatly praised for your entire lifetime is if you fear the Lord.
When you recieve compliments, it is easy to let them go to your head. "Oh, she thinks my sweater is cute!", "Oh, she thinks I'm smart! She thinks I'm wise! She thinks I do the right thing!" It is much harder to give the credit to God and to remember that everything we have belongs to Him. (1 Corinthians 3:22-23 "...Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.") If you have trouble remembering to give credit to God, here is a great verse:
Galatians 1:10- "Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant."
Many girls seems to struggle with the things that they want to be praised for. Everyone wants to be 'popular', they want to be liked by guys who do NOT respect them, and they want to be pretty in the way of the world. Measuring up to the world's standards will get you no where without a wise path to follow. You and I have seen over and over again girls we look up to crumble under the weight and sinful pressure of this world.
1 Corinthians 4:5- "So don't make judgments about anyone ahead of time-before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due."
What do you want to be praised for? Do you want to be known as the girl who is really pretty with a lot of pretty friends and seems to have fun, but on the inside is unsatisfied and lonely? Or, do you want to be the girl who has CHRIST and is friendly, loving, well-liked, beautiful on the inside and the out, and gives wonderful, wise advice? To me, it's a pretty clear choice! A woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.
"For the next few weeks I have a dare for you. I dare you to say something nice to the meanest girl in school. Tell them something that will boost their confidence. Then go to a person you don't really like and tell them the exact same thing." -Caitlin Gater
One of the things that I have learned is that if you don't think a person likes you, then most likely they think you don't like them. Show them that you do.
-Jenna Hampton
with Caitlin Gater
