“do not spend your strength on women, your vigor on those who ruin kings.” (Proverbs 31:3)
In our devotional today, our focus is on the third verse of Proverbs 31 above.
I can’t help but picture this verse in my mind: A man of standing; a man of authority, whose strength, vigor and robustness is being channeled towards the wrong direction.
The result is that his territory, which is representative of his wife, children, society, workplace, and any other area he would have wielded influence, suffers.
He spends too much time and energy in silly, foolish things that he leaves nothing for purposeful engagements.
In the next devotional, we will take a little “detour” to talk about the kind of godly man the queen mother might have been describing in these opening verses.
Because the Proverbs 31 words were inspired by God, then I believe we wouldn’t do good service to this chapter if we didn’t talk about the man as well. Let’s move on.
You and I have probably witnessed countless examples of men who have chosen to spend their strength on women – ungodly, immoral, wicked, manipulative women.
We may have been among the innocent victims who belonged to the ‘territory’ of these men. We have suffered neglect, even lack.
Perhaps we have been denied the much-needed father’s love, simply because a father neglected his God-given territory on the Homefront.
Because we are tracking the Proverbs 31 woman, wanting our character to be fashioned after her noble character, we must briefly describe the women mentioned in this verse.
Definitely, their character is exactly opposite of the character we are looking for.
The verse has two parts. I strongly believe part two is strengthening, or emphasizing part one.
For most Bible versions, the two parts are clearly talking about these devious women.
For one, these women ruin kings. They destroy men of God.
Their character is described in other passages of the Bible, especially in the Proverbs.
They are immoral. (Prov. 6:24) They lack wisdom. (Prov.14:1) They are deceptive. (Prov 5:3-14, vs 20) Their paths lead to death.
The Bible gives us an example of such a woman. Her name was Jezebel.
The Bible records that there was not a king in Israel like Ahab, who did much evil and shed so much innocent blood, urged on by his wife Jezebel. (1 Kings 21:25)
You and I don’t want to be counted among this kind of women. We want to be among those who by our thoughts, words and actions, will build up rather than destroy. We will bring life rather than death.
How, as women do we become the women of noble character and not like these women who ruin kings?
The process of becoming will begin at the mind level. Paul says in Romans 12:2 that we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
When I make the decision to follow Jesus, then I must go on to have my mind renewed. This is a process rather than a one-time event. You can read this post here for further understanding of this.
What I say and do has its genesis in the mind. What I feed my mind with will be critical. It will determine whether what comes out of me will be ‘poison’ for others, or life-giving.
Even the quietest of women can talk. Their words will often build up, or destroy. They can heal, comfort, encourage and inspire or hurt, demean, destroy discourage or inflict deep wounds on those they land on.
I hope you can see that a woman may not necessarily destroy because she is immoral. She can destroy in other ways; with her words and deeds.
We want to trust God that we will be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we will be a blessing.
Below are 7 things you and I can do so that our minds might be renewed for the glory of God:
- You and I must feed our minds with God’s Word, the Bible, on a daily basis.
I personally rise up early to commune with God daily in his Word. I have written about what I do in this post here on Quiet Time. You can read it for further insight on how to have your Quiet Time effectively.
- We must develop the discipline and practice of praying daily to God.
God is the one who is changing and transforming me, as I read his Word and pray. He will make me into the woman he wants me to be.
- Let’s be careful about what we see and hear.
Personally, I am careful to listen to content that draws me back to God and his Word. I will also listen to content that motivates me to do things God’s way.
I keep trusting God too not to set a vile thing before my eyes. (Ps 119:37, Job 31:1) This may mean going to the extent of blocking, deleting any such text on my mobile device for instance, video or photo source that has any appearance of evil.
Are we going overboard on this? if it means honoring God by what we see and hear, by all means, let’s go overboard on this!
- Let’s be careful about what we read.
There is content you will read and your mind will be filled with all manner of filth. You want to read content that will edify your spirit and stimulate you to wholesome thinking. (2Pet. 3:1)
- Let’s be careful how we use our time.
Plan your day in such a way that you will not get into all kinds of folly and trouble because you are idle. (2Thess 3:7-11)
I personally set my goals each day, either the day before or early morning, being careful to ensure that each hour is fruitfully occupied. This has generally helped me to use my time each day productively.
- Be careful who you spend your time with.
Bad company corrupts good character. (1Cor 15:33) You may be striving to be a godly woman. All your effort then gets washed down the drain by an afternoon spend by the kind of woman described in Prov 31:3.
Such a woman can influence you into being like her, even to a little extend. Be careful to spend time with women who, like you, will lead you towards what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable. (Phil 4:8)
- We must develop the discipline and practice of fasting regularly
Fasting unto God has a way of accelerating our progress when it comes to our walk with God. I know this because the Bible has several accounts of how God would act on behalf of his people because they fasted.
Transformation resulting from the renewing of our minds is no different. I know character issues God has dealt with in my own life because I fasted.
There are certain truths that get clearer because we fasted. Don’t just fast during a time of crisis or when you are in trouble. Let God show you the frequency and pattern of fasting for you; then fast.
If you miss for one reason or another, get up and keep on. God is working on you.
Let’s be counted among women who belong to God; women who are being formed to be the women of noble character God wants them to be!
“O God, grant that I will not conform to the pattern of this world. I pray to be transformed by the renewing of my mind, as I seek to think, say and do what pleases you. Grant that the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart will be pleasing to you. In Jesus name. Amen.”