SHE 31 - Woman Of ValourSample

There is nothing lazy about our Proverbs 31 woman. No one can deny that she works hard. We have already spent two days looking at her fruitfulness and the way in which she provides - and these are just two characteristics that are a direct result of working hard. Tomorrow, we are going to move on to looking at stewarding everything that her hard work brings. 

Consider: Are you hard working?

Each of us will have a different view and experience of what ‘work’ looks like. It’s subjective. Each of our lives are unique and we all spend our time differently. Some of us are employed, whilst others of us may be students. Some of us may be bringing up children, whilst others of us may be volunteers. Some of us may be Church Planters, whilst others may be seeking God on what our Next Step is. Most of us who are part of Freedom Church will be serving God in one of our locations around the world. God is less interested in what you ‘do’ and more interested in ‘why’ you're doing it. Hard work is heart work. Your attitude towards what you do day-in-day-out is a direct reflection of where your heart is at. 

Hard work says “I’ll do it” when no one else will. Hard work says “I’ll give it my all even if I don’t get the credit” Hard work says “It’s not about me”.

Context: Why bother?

Hard work isn’t easy. Our flesh will tell us to cut corners and to do the bare minimum. Others around us may not give their all or have a good attitude. So why do we aim to work hard? Colossians 3 v 23-25 teaches us to work at everything that we do as if it were for God and not for people. In fact, Paul felt so strongly about this, that he also wrote about it in Ephesians 6. When we work with excellence and give our all, we bring glory to God. When we work for an audience of One, our perspective changes. We may not always enjoy what we do and we may come across difficult people, but when we remember that everything we do is for God, our motivation shifts.

Over to you: Ask yourself…..

How does this characteristic of a Proverbs 31 woman make you feel? What has the Holy Spirit being prompting you to do whilst you’ve been reading this text? 

1. If laziness and motivation are things that you struggle with, what one Next Step can you take to improve your attitude to your ‘work’ and to bring glory to God in all that you do?
2. If you are someone who purposefully works hard for God’s glory, what can you do this week to explicitly show those that you do life with the reasons behind your attitude?