Leading up to Mother’s Day, this week’s devos were written by my best friend and wife, Grace, and our oldest daughter, Ashley, as part of their new book ‘Fearlessly Feminine’. Get your copy for a gift of any amount during the month of May by clicking here.
“The path of the virtuous leads away from evil; whoever follows that path is safe.” – Proverbs 16:17
The next contrast we are going to discuss is seduction vs. virtue. Women are all created with unique sizes, bone structures, shapes, skin colors, eyes, and hair to represent God’s beauty and creativity! How we speak, act, and dress can glorify God or not because it comes down to a matter of the heart. Does our heart carry around shame and lies about God and ourselves, or is it clothed in the forgiveness and righteousness of Christ knowing He loves us as His daughters? If our hearts are wounded or seductive, we can overcompensate by dressing, acting, or speaking inappropriately to “fit in.” The more skin revealed and tighter fitting fashion that continues to digress today leaves us exposed and vulnerable.
Remember how Adam and Eve hid from God because of their shame after they sinned? If we think God can’t see something in our lives, past or present, we are deceiving ourselves. He wants to lovingly protect us from harm, so let’s let Him. We don’t need to (and can’t) hide from God, but we do need to consider how to present ourselves modestly in front of others. They chose fig leaves, but God designed the first animal print outfits when He “made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife” (Gen 3:21), which covered more than leaves! They chose blame-shifting and believing the Enemy’s deception, but God chose to bring the lies into the light while also forgiving them and promising a Savior. They chose to hide, but God pursued them by calling out to them and disciplining them in love. God’s way is always the best way!
Our confidence comes from the fact that we are created in the image of God (remember Core Truth 1!) and we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps 139). God loves you more than you can imagine, and if we truly believe this in our soul, we won’t let other people or things that have happened in our lives define us! Women were created with beauty and passion, but it needs to be connected to the Holy Spirit. Once I realized and truly believed I was made righteous via the cross of Christ, I started the healing process and learned to walk in the life He had for me, not letting others or my pain determine my future! It’s a daily decision of putting off lies and putting on God’s image and likeness.
The world we live in today essentially commands us to be sexual as women. The shows we watch, magazines we look at, social media influencers we follow, and songs we listen to all scream “BE SEDUCTIVE and you will get whatever you want!” Private things are no longer private, and whether you’ve “got it” or not, you are supposed to flaunt it. It’s so tragic to see young girls growing up under this pressure and lack of Biblical training. If you are a mother or influencer of any kind to children, we plead with you to take this seriously! It is our responsibility to train and protect girls from the storm of seductiveness coming at them. Encourage them to guard their hearts and bodies from being used by others or being valued for how much skin they show and the sexual poses (or selfies) they can imitate.
Proverbs repeatedly talks about virtuous women who practice honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, fidelity, integrity, and self-control. Women were created with beauty and passion, but it needs to be connected to the Holy Spirit.
Tomorrow we will discuss betrayal vs. loyalty in Proverbs.
Take some time and read what Proverbs has to say about wise and foolish people from the following verses.
– Seductive: Proverbs 2:16; 4:23-24; 5:3-6
– Virtuous: Proverbs 16:17; 21:29
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