Extending Kindness
Continuing our study in Proverbs, we see that the Proverbs 31 woman EXTENDS KINDNESS to her family through her words, to the needy with her outstretched hands, and to herself through knowing her strength and worth. Do you realize that what we SAY is very important and has an impact on our husbands, our children, our friends, and our community. Let’s look at Proverbs 31:20, 25-26 New American Standard:
20 She extends her hand to the poor: and she stretches out her hands to the needy. 25 Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future. 26 She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
It’s interesting that this verse does not say, she “speaks wisdom”; instead it says that she “OPENS HER MOUTH in wisdom.” So maybe sometimes wisdom is found in not opening our mouths? Oh my! I can relate to that. I talk a lot, so I often pray that God will help me know when to open my mouth and when to keep it closed. One of my daughters, at around 8 years old, would often say the first thought that came to her mind. I had to teach her that some thoughts need to stay in your head and some thoughts come out. One time, I was getting ice cream with my family and was about 6 months pregnant. A woman came up to me and said, “You are huge! When are you due?”. I actually couldn’t believe that she said that to me. That was a thought that should have stayed in her head and not come out of her mouth.
Kindness is on her tongue. KINDNESS is defined as “the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.” Why is it that we often are more considerate to strangers than to those closest to us-our husbands, children, family? Is it because it is harder to be kind and to love the people we know best? But it’s not that way with God. The ones He knows the best, He loves the most. God is our example in that we also can LOVE and BE KIND to those we know the best-OUR FAMILY.
She is also KIND to the poor and needy. So when I had a baby, a toddler, a preschooler, an elementary schooler and a middle schooler at the same time (yup! it was crazy!), I was thinking about this passage. Lord, how can I reach out to the needy, when I am so busy with my family? That’s when He gave me the idea for what I called my “Chicken Pot Pie ministry.” This is something that I could easily do. My family loved chicken pot pies, so I would make three at a time (it really was not that much more work), keep two for my family and give the other one away to someone in my church or community that had a need. There always seemed to be someone who was struggling with sickness, or a trial, or I would just give it to someone that God put on my heart and usually it turned out that that person really needed it. God is not going to ask you to do something you can’t do, so why not ask Him what you CAN do to reach out to others with KINDNESS? It might even be something you do together with your family.
And I love that STRENGTH and DIGNITY are her clothing. STRENGTH H5797 here means not only strength but also “force, security, majesty, praise.” The same word is used in Exodus 15:2 King James Version:
The Lord is my strength and song and He is become my salvation…
So we can see the source of her strength is the Lord. And MAJESTY is part of her strength because remember that she is a DAUGHTER OF THE KING OF KINGS. Further, DIGNITY H1926 here means “magnificence, splendor, beauty, glory, honor, majesty.” So did you know that as HIS DAUGHTER, you also are MAGNIFICENT, because you reflect HIM! Just as a child can look like a parent and reflect their image, so you reflect His image, His MAGNIFICENCE!
Strength and dignity are her clothing, and clothing is something that you PUT ON. So how do you PUT ON strength and dignity? Just as you put on your regular clothes, putting these attributes on takes ACTION. First, we need to realized that these attributes BELONG TO US as His children. We have a right to them. Second, we need to realize that no-one is going to put them on for us-WE HAVE TO PUT THEM ON OURSELVES. How do we put these attributes on? By studying His truth about us in His Word.
And once we clothe ourselves with STRENGTH and DIGNITY, we can SMILE AT THE FUTURE, because our hearts are full of His Word, so our hearts are full of faith. Often we can look at the future and feel anxious because we think we are alone there. But we are not. Jesus goes with us into our future, so anything that we have to deal with there, whether bad or good, He helps us with. So let’s remember that
WE CAN SMILE AT THE FUTURE, BECAUSE JESUS IS THERE WITH US. HE IS NEAR.
In His love,
Suzanne
Mom Morsels 