Live Your Priorities

One picture is worth a thousand words and God has given us such a picture in Proverbs 31:11-31. Here He paints a portrait of a woman living out her priorities. Have you ever noticed that none of her words are recorded? No, only her example survives.

Have you ever wanted to influence in such a way or help other women, but feel limited by time or lack of bible knowledge? Well, another vital way of influencing and teaching others is available to you no matter what your stage of life. By living out your priorities you will teach and disciple many women—without saying a word. The best way to teach prior­ities to others is to model those priorities.

By God’s grace and in His power, you can encourage others just as the “wonder”ful woman in Proverbs 31 encourages you. Simply concen­trate on being who God wants you to be and doing what He wants you to do. Concentrate on mastering your priorities. Don’t worry about organizing your thoughts, preparing a lesson, and getting up in front of a group. Just walk among the women at your church and in your neighborhood doing with all your heart what you are supposed to do.

Every Christian woman needs models and examples—and I am no different. I remember being a new Christian and going to church, looking for models. I carefully watched other Christian women. I observed how they behaved in church and even what they wore. I noted how they treated their husbands, if they showed respect, how they behaved as a couple in public. I also watched the moms with their children, noticing how they disciplined, the tone of voice they used when they spoke to their children, and even the expressions on their faces as they looked at their little ones. Nothing slipped by me because I knew I needed help!

As an experienced observer of other women, I know that every­ thing you do and don’t do teaches. Gossip may seem like a little thing, but when you don’t gossip, you teach other women the beauty of obedience. When you say, “I’ll have to check with my husband about that,” you show other wives how to make their husbands a priority. When you plan your day around your children’s schedules, you model for other moms respect and care for their children.

If you are in a phase of life that doesn’t allow you to formally teach or lead or participate in a women’s ministry, you’re still teaching! Think about it this way—perhaps your very absence from those functions is teaching something about your priori­ties. Maybe some of the people who are in attendance shouldn’t be there either.

A favorite quote of mine from Charles Ryrie states, “We [must] say ‘no’ not only to things which are wrong and sinful, but to things pleasant, profitable, and good which would hinder and clog our grand duties and our chief work.” I trust that your investigations into God’s truth and observation of other godly women are leading you to a full understanding of how grand your duties and chief work as a Christian woman, wife, mother, home manager, and worker in the church are. We are in constant process of seeing more clearly each day what God says is most important. Being what God wants you to be—being a woman after God’s own heart—is a power­ful ministry. Others can simply watch you and be encouraged in their own quest to follow God.

Question: What priorities do your activities and actions model before other women, even without you saying a word?

Find further study of God’s priorities for women in my book, Woman After God’s Own Heart.

Read Live Your Priorities on Elizabeth & Jim George.