Proverbs 31 as a professional woman – Part 12
Embodying and manifesting godly wisdom in the workplace
Dear loyal readers, I trust that you’re blessed and highly favoured.
A reading of Proverbs 31:10-31 reveals a woman who lives a life of service to God, herself and everyone else around her. Meaning that she interacts lovingly with a desire to see everyone win – including herself.
This brings us to success principle 6, which says that Proverbs 31 as a professional woman “adopts servant leadership”.
The Lord Jesus Christ revealed the essence of servant leadership: In Mathew 20:26-28, when He told His disciples that to become great, one must be a servant to others and that He hadn’t come to be served but to serve others, and in John 13:1-17, when He washed His disciples feet, including Judas Iscariot, who was going to betray Him.
In so doing, He demonstrated to them that humbly leading by example is the best example of humility that a leader can display – even to those who hate you or betray you for no reason.
Servant leadership is also demonstrated in various forms in Proverbs 31:10-31 – both inside and outside the household. Although the Proverbs 31 woman dresses in “fine linen and purple” (verse 22), meaning that she was a woman of high status and wealth, she still made sure to wake up early to provide food to her family and to her servants.
I’m not suggesting that you start doing the above to prove yourself. On the contrary, I wish to reveal the Proverbs 31 woman’s innate understanding that we were created to live a life that is in service to one another.
This is demonstrated in the book of Genesis as well.
When Elohim created the world, He created humans “a little lower than angels” (Hebrews 2:7, Psalm 8:5), but He didn’t let that status prohibit Adam from working in the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15) as well as from naming all the living creatures (Genesis 2:19).
I mean, Adam could’ve asked for a holiday to go sightseeing and to marvel at God’s creation, but instead, he obediently chose to be in service to the Lord, for the benefit of future humans who had not yet been created.
In the New Testament, Jesus came to Earth as God in human form (John 14:9-11, Colossians 2:9, Philippians 2:6-7). He knew that He already had glory before the world began (John 17:5), but for the sake of bringing more glory to God (John 17:4) He also took on an earthly form that was “lower than angels for a little while” (Hebrews 2:9).
On earth, He served God (for His glory) and humanity (for the sake of our salvation) and didn’t use His position (of already having glory before the world began – John 17:5) to demand to be served.
It’s in this humble service and sacrifice that He was exalted as the name above all names (Philippians 2:9-11).
Our acts of servant leadership only have true meaning when considered, firstly, by the glory they bring to God, secondly, by the impact that they have on the next person, and thirdly, by the growth that it inspires in us.
Proverbs 31 as a professional woman seeks to embody this principle because she knows that sometimes the workplace can become a place where people get so absorbed and fascinated with their positions, titles and status – and forget the human element of serving each other with love and compassion.
If different departments or colleagues could see that we are all in service to each other – for the benefit of the next person – then perhaps there would be less tension and competition in the workplace. We would probably have a greater display of the fruit of the Spirit (“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control” - Galatians 5:22-23) and successful work environments that are safe spaces for everyone to thrive.
Shalom.
DISCLAIMER: 'Proverbs 31 as a Professional Woman' under the theme 'Embodying and Manifesting Godly Wisdom, Success Principles and Effortless Femininity in the Workplace' is not posited on trying to read the professional woman into Proverbs 31 because this will produce an absurd result. However, I have opted to take a principles-based approach that widens the scope to be applicable to any professional woman – regardless of her age or status.
*For more context of who I am and why I’m writing this column titled 'Spirit, Soul and Body', I encourage you to Google search my previous articles titled 'A New Season', 'Seeing God’s Glory Through My Tears' as well as 'Proverbs 31 as a Professional Woman' (the introduction as well as parts 1,2,3,4 and 5) – all published by the Namibian Sun newspaper. I welcome your comments, inputs, queries or concerns. Kindly address them to [email protected]
A reading of Proverbs 31:10-31 reveals a woman who lives a life of service to God, herself and everyone else around her. Meaning that she interacts lovingly with a desire to see everyone win – including herself.
This brings us to success principle 6, which says that Proverbs 31 as a professional woman “adopts servant leadership”.
The Lord Jesus Christ revealed the essence of servant leadership: In Mathew 20:26-28, when He told His disciples that to become great, one must be a servant to others and that He hadn’t come to be served but to serve others, and in John 13:1-17, when He washed His disciples feet, including Judas Iscariot, who was going to betray Him.
In so doing, He demonstrated to them that humbly leading by example is the best example of humility that a leader can display – even to those who hate you or betray you for no reason.
Servant leadership is also demonstrated in various forms in Proverbs 31:10-31 – both inside and outside the household. Although the Proverbs 31 woman dresses in “fine linen and purple” (verse 22), meaning that she was a woman of high status and wealth, she still made sure to wake up early to provide food to her family and to her servants.
I’m not suggesting that you start doing the above to prove yourself. On the contrary, I wish to reveal the Proverbs 31 woman’s innate understanding that we were created to live a life that is in service to one another.
This is demonstrated in the book of Genesis as well.
When Elohim created the world, He created humans “a little lower than angels” (Hebrews 2:7, Psalm 8:5), but He didn’t let that status prohibit Adam from working in the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15) as well as from naming all the living creatures (Genesis 2:19).
I mean, Adam could’ve asked for a holiday to go sightseeing and to marvel at God’s creation, but instead, he obediently chose to be in service to the Lord, for the benefit of future humans who had not yet been created.
In the New Testament, Jesus came to Earth as God in human form (John 14:9-11, Colossians 2:9, Philippians 2:6-7). He knew that He already had glory before the world began (John 17:5), but for the sake of bringing more glory to God (John 17:4) He also took on an earthly form that was “lower than angels for a little while” (Hebrews 2:9).
On earth, He served God (for His glory) and humanity (for the sake of our salvation) and didn’t use His position (of already having glory before the world began – John 17:5) to demand to be served.
It’s in this humble service and sacrifice that He was exalted as the name above all names (Philippians 2:9-11).
Our acts of servant leadership only have true meaning when considered, firstly, by the glory they bring to God, secondly, by the impact that they have on the next person, and thirdly, by the growth that it inspires in us.
Proverbs 31 as a professional woman seeks to embody this principle because she knows that sometimes the workplace can become a place where people get so absorbed and fascinated with their positions, titles and status – and forget the human element of serving each other with love and compassion.
If different departments or colleagues could see that we are all in service to each other – for the benefit of the next person – then perhaps there would be less tension and competition in the workplace. We would probably have a greater display of the fruit of the Spirit (“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control” - Galatians 5:22-23) and successful work environments that are safe spaces for everyone to thrive.
Shalom.
DISCLAIMER: 'Proverbs 31 as a Professional Woman' under the theme 'Embodying and Manifesting Godly Wisdom, Success Principles and Effortless Femininity in the Workplace' is not posited on trying to read the professional woman into Proverbs 31 because this will produce an absurd result. However, I have opted to take a principles-based approach that widens the scope to be applicable to any professional woman – regardless of her age or status.
*For more context of who I am and why I’m writing this column titled 'Spirit, Soul and Body', I encourage you to Google search my previous articles titled 'A New Season', 'Seeing God’s Glory Through My Tears' as well as 'Proverbs 31 as a Professional Woman' (the introduction as well as parts 1,2,3,4 and 5) – all published by the Namibian Sun newspaper. I welcome your comments, inputs, queries or concerns. Kindly address them to [email protected]
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article