An
excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. The heart of
her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good
and not evil all the days of her life. ... Charm is deceitful and beauty is
vain, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. Proverbs 31:10-12, 30
A woman of
excellence…that was how Naomi described her daughter-in-law Ruth. Solomon,
Ruth’s great–great grandson, described an excellent wife in Proverbs 31. It is
a list of attributes that many say cannot describe just one woman…but admirable
qualities of many women. Think what you may, that lady is a supermom! She is
such a good example for all women. Keeping your family “happy” is a great
goal…one that is not easily attainable. It begins with training them in the way
they should go so that they’ll stick with that way when they are old (Proverbs
22:6). It takes a lot of effort on both parents’ parts to “train” children. The
easy way may seem to sit them down in front of the TV from the time they get up
until whenever they fall asleep—so that you can do whatever you want, but in
the long run those children will likely end up being disagreeable, unruly, disturbed,
malnourished, selfish, self-center and whiny. Kids need boundaries, good
nutrition, fresh air, and just plain basic love and attention. They need
spiritual training, too. They can’t make a decision about religion or God
unless they’ve been exposed to that—and it can’t start when they are teenagers.
Religious training needs to begin at the preschool age level and continue until
they graduate from high school or college. Then they can make an educated
decision as to whether they want to continue to seek God or not. A parent of
excellence will have all those qualities of the woman of excellence. They will
be hard working, willing to serve others, have a good reputation, speak wisely,
and teach kindness. That parent would be a good example to any child. How do
you measure up? What changes do you want to make in your life so that you can
be a parent of excellence?
Training Tip – Bring out the building blocks. Build a selfish
tower that has three blocks: self, selfish pride, and rejection of God’s help—I
can do it myself. That tower can never get taller since it won’t have any of
God’s character in it. It can only to fall over with selfishness.
Then build a
high tower with at least six blocks that is more stable. The first block
represents a foundation in Christ. The second block is one that represents the
teaching found in Matthew 19:26…Jesus
said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are
possible." This same idea is repeated in Paul’s letter to the
Philippians…I can do all things through
Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13, so you might want to add another
block onto the foundation block. The third layer represents accepting God’s
help. The fourth block assures us that Christ loves us no matter what and that
gives us the value to love ourselves and others (fifth block)…like Jesus
taught…'You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:31. The last block would represent
serving others…But prove yourselves doers
of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. James 1:22. This second tower should be stronger
than the first and can have additional blocks added for each valued
characteristic that the children can identify. Those could be love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control and other
characteristics of virtue or moral excellence.
Lord God, You gave up Your beloved Son so that we
might live abundant lives—pleasing to You for eternity. Help us to guide our
children and grandchild to seek and serve You and to be children of
excellence—hard working, giving, loving, ethical and virtuous—with character
traits like Your Son, Jesus.
All
scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise
noted.
© 2013 by Mickey
M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
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