Proverbs 31 as a professional woman - Part 34
SPIRIT, SOUL AND BODY
Dear loyal readers, I trust that you’re blessed and highly favoured.
In January, when I resumed writing this column, I thought I’d start with success principle ten for Proverbs 31 as a professional woman.
But in parts 29 to 33, God paused this desire in order to dedicate more time to sharing the good news of the gospel, which is initiated through sin confession, strengthened by repentance and where salvation is completed by believing in Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Saviour (Romans 10:9-13). This salvation through Christ gives us the opportunity to become children of God through faith (Galatians 3:24-29) and allows us, through spiritual adoption, to relate to God from a relational perspective as Abba Father, as opposed to just seeing Him as Elohim, our Creator.
In part 33 I wrote: “Jesus Christ came to take away the shame and guilt associated with our sins and to provide us with an opportunity to be forgiven if we confess our sins to God and repent of them. This provides a new identity in Him where Jesus Christ takes away the guilt, worthlessness or unworthiness that comes from our sins and replaces it with forgiveness and acceptance. This is an act of faith in Jesus where believers are no longer defined by their past mistakes or perceived shortcomings, but, instead, are seen as righteous and loved by God (see Romans 10:9-13). This is what salvation is about. You become born again as a form of spiritual rebirth and get a new beginning with God (see John 3). You’re made right with God through Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ paid the price for your sins and replaces it with righteousness before God. Righteousness before God is through faith in Jesus Christ only (Romans 5:19, Galatians 2:16, John 3:36).”
Our Lord, in the fulfilment of all the above, seeks to show us His grace and love for us and the hope for a new beginning as an adopted child of Abba Father, being led by the Holy Spirit, living a righteous life and having everlasting life.
However, for this glory, grace and love of God which is in Jesus Christ to be revealed to us, the process is initiated through sin confession and repentance. In Mathew 4:17 and Mark 1:15, Jesus’s first preaching was on repentance.
Why does repentance matter?
Because it’s not enough to just confess your sin, you need to take the further step of turning away from committing the same sins over and over – that is you showing that you no longer want to be a slave to that sin and that you’ve turned to Jesus Christ to help you become a new person.
When the Lord decides to convict people through the Holy Spirit, it is not only intended to make us aware of how sinful we are, but it also presents an opportunity for us to turn away from that sinful nature. This assists us in transforming our minds as we become new persons in Christ (Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 5:17).
In part 33 I also shared that: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (see Romans 3:23-26).
Despite our shortcomings, God’s love can reach even the ones who feel the least worthy of it (see Romans 8:38-39). Don’t allow yourself to limit the love of an unfailing and loving God who wants to adopt you by faith in Jesus Christ so that He can reveal Himself to you as an amazing Heavenly Father (Ephesians 1).
Also, know that God doesn’t force Himself into people's lives – He will be found by you if you look for Him with your whole heart (Jeremiah 29:12-14).”
“God is love” is found in 1 John 4:8 and His love permeates all that He is and all that He does. Jesus Christ came to Earth to make us experience the visual representation of God’s love, His character and His power (Hebrews 1:2-3, Ephesians 1).
The character and the ability of the triune God (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit) are revealed through His many names. But love is the essence of God and is not just merely an attribute of His character. I invite you to read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and instead of reading the word “love”, replace it with “God” and you will see that God “is patient, is kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, does not dishonour others, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, does not keep a record of wrongs, does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth, always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres and never fails”.
I invite you to also read Galatians 5:22-23, which talks about the fruit of the Spirit and I challenge you to read it from the perspective of seeing God’s character as being full of – “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
I’m not trying to rewrite scripture or to add to it; I’m merely creating an analogy for you to understand the ability, integrity and character of God so that you can be enlightened as to His essence. May this revelation encourage you to seek Him from a more personal and relational perspective as Abba Father, as opposed to just seeing Him as Elohim, our Creator.
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.
This column has previous articles titled ‘A New Season’, ‘Seeing God’s Glory Through My Tears’ and ‘Proverbs 31 as a Professional Woman’ (the introduction as well as parts 1 to 33) – all published by Namibian Sun newspaper.
I welcome your comments, inputs, queries or concerns. Kindly address them to [email protected]
In January, when I resumed writing this column, I thought I’d start with success principle ten for Proverbs 31 as a professional woman.
But in parts 29 to 33, God paused this desire in order to dedicate more time to sharing the good news of the gospel, which is initiated through sin confession, strengthened by repentance and where salvation is completed by believing in Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Saviour (Romans 10:9-13). This salvation through Christ gives us the opportunity to become children of God through faith (Galatians 3:24-29) and allows us, through spiritual adoption, to relate to God from a relational perspective as Abba Father, as opposed to just seeing Him as Elohim, our Creator.
In part 33 I wrote: “Jesus Christ came to take away the shame and guilt associated with our sins and to provide us with an opportunity to be forgiven if we confess our sins to God and repent of them. This provides a new identity in Him where Jesus Christ takes away the guilt, worthlessness or unworthiness that comes from our sins and replaces it with forgiveness and acceptance. This is an act of faith in Jesus where believers are no longer defined by their past mistakes or perceived shortcomings, but, instead, are seen as righteous and loved by God (see Romans 10:9-13). This is what salvation is about. You become born again as a form of spiritual rebirth and get a new beginning with God (see John 3). You’re made right with God through Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ paid the price for your sins and replaces it with righteousness before God. Righteousness before God is through faith in Jesus Christ only (Romans 5:19, Galatians 2:16, John 3:36).”
Our Lord, in the fulfilment of all the above, seeks to show us His grace and love for us and the hope for a new beginning as an adopted child of Abba Father, being led by the Holy Spirit, living a righteous life and having everlasting life.
However, for this glory, grace and love of God which is in Jesus Christ to be revealed to us, the process is initiated through sin confession and repentance. In Mathew 4:17 and Mark 1:15, Jesus’s first preaching was on repentance.
Why does repentance matter?
Because it’s not enough to just confess your sin, you need to take the further step of turning away from committing the same sins over and over – that is you showing that you no longer want to be a slave to that sin and that you’ve turned to Jesus Christ to help you become a new person.
When the Lord decides to convict people through the Holy Spirit, it is not only intended to make us aware of how sinful we are, but it also presents an opportunity for us to turn away from that sinful nature. This assists us in transforming our minds as we become new persons in Christ (Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 5:17).
In part 33 I also shared that: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (see Romans 3:23-26).
Despite our shortcomings, God’s love can reach even the ones who feel the least worthy of it (see Romans 8:38-39). Don’t allow yourself to limit the love of an unfailing and loving God who wants to adopt you by faith in Jesus Christ so that He can reveal Himself to you as an amazing Heavenly Father (Ephesians 1).
Also, know that God doesn’t force Himself into people's lives – He will be found by you if you look for Him with your whole heart (Jeremiah 29:12-14).”
“God is love” is found in 1 John 4:8 and His love permeates all that He is and all that He does. Jesus Christ came to Earth to make us experience the visual representation of God’s love, His character and His power (Hebrews 1:2-3, Ephesians 1).
The character and the ability of the triune God (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit) are revealed through His many names. But love is the essence of God and is not just merely an attribute of His character. I invite you to read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and instead of reading the word “love”, replace it with “God” and you will see that God “is patient, is kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, does not dishonour others, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, does not keep a record of wrongs, does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth, always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres and never fails”.
I invite you to also read Galatians 5:22-23, which talks about the fruit of the Spirit and I challenge you to read it from the perspective of seeing God’s character as being full of – “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
I’m not trying to rewrite scripture or to add to it; I’m merely creating an analogy for you to understand the ability, integrity and character of God so that you can be enlightened as to His essence. May this revelation encourage you to seek Him from a more personal and relational perspective as Abba Father, as opposed to just seeing Him as Elohim, our Creator.
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.
This column has previous articles titled ‘A New Season’, ‘Seeing God’s Glory Through My Tears’ and ‘Proverbs 31 as a Professional Woman’ (the introduction as well as parts 1 to 33) – all published by Namibian Sun newspaper.
I welcome your comments, inputs, queries or concerns. Kindly address them to [email protected]
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