Proverbs 31: 31 – Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.
People can talk and write about her but she’ll only be worthy of praise when she has fi nally touched your life…her own works will bring her praise.
You can’t ever fully become this V-Woman if all you do is within your own reach. You may be a great mother, perfect wife, and extraordinary daughter, but if you don’t reach out to others outside your own little world, you’ll still be as ordinary as a woman can be.
Let’s consider what the Lord Jesus said about this: “Suppose one of you had a servant ploughing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the fi eld, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ “ Luke 17:10
All that you do at home, at work, in school, or in church is basically already expected of you. If you do it well, you’re just doing what you’re supposed to do. But when you do that AND you reach out to others while you’re at it, THEN you’re doing more than what you’re asked to. THEN you’re coming out of your comfort zone. THEN you’re starting to make a difference in the world outside your own.
My friend Leah, a pastor’s wife is currently living in Dallas. She started working with a group of young women back when she was in the Austin church, encouraging them to be women of God. She was never told to do that. It was from her own desire to see God glorifi ed among the people in her church. Austin is the church that has the most Sisterhood candidates in the state of Texas.
Then there is Eunice. She arrived in the UK without a word of English and you’d think she’d wait until she could express herself before starting to do anything there … she didn’t. Not caring about her position as a pastor’s wife, she immediately got herself an assistant’s uniform and began to work in meetings that hardly any pastor’s wife attended. She’d speak to people without a word of English (don’t ask!).
Teresa is a bishop’s wife and yet every time there’s a bishop’s conference in her town, she pulls up her sleeves and works hard to provide everyone with the best food and service in the house, even though there will be 10 other people being paid for that! She does it just so everything will come out better than expected.
Look at the example set by Greici who worked in Mauritius for years as the only assistant in a church with about 1,000 people. She’d work in the offi ce, clean the church, take care not only of her own husband but also of the single pastors’ clothes and food. There were days she’d stay all day long in the church counselling people. She’s now working in France and is already making her impact there.
Finally we must mention Ima, who is currently working in New York and though she has two small children, she’s always involved in evangelisation work. She evangelises in the subways and is ridiculed by people many times, nevertheless, she keeps on doing it. She keeps on sowing her many fruitful seeds.
Their own work praises them.
In faith,
Cristiane Cardoso