In the last post I talked about sources of wisdom and quoted Proverbs 2:2. Today I want to look at another verse: Proverb 31:25
“She is clothed with strength and dignity, she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.”
There’s a lot we can learn from that description. First, the word “clothed,” in Old Testament Hebrew was the word, labash, meaning “to put on.” To put something on implies “intentionality. It wasn’t accidental. So, we could say, “she intentionally puts on strength and dignity.” Or, to say it another way, she chooses to be strong and to behave with dignity.
“Strength” from the Old Testament word “azaz” means to prevail. “Prevail” implies a struggle and boldness. And boldness requires conviction. This woman knows what she values and intentionally faces challenges with boldness because of the strength of conviction in what she values.
Dignity comes from the word “hadar” which means honored or splendor. A wise woman puts on dignity by choosing actions and words that are just, honest and purposeful. She expresses opinions and ideas with clarity and thoughtfulness without maliciousness or hatefulness.
Oh, and don’t forget about laughter. True wisdom also has the ability to find humor in difficult situations and can laugh at the problem and at herself in the middle of what may seem to be an insurmountable task.
Today we talked about the intentionality of wise behavior. In yesterday’s blog we looked at how our experiences provide opportunities for the growth of wisdom. The children showed us three ways to respond to an experience: we can learn to follow rules that are in our best interest; we can learn what the rules are about and be creative in how we follow those rules; or we can not learn anything from the experience and continue to make the same mistakes.
(So, for those of you who are wondering about yesterday’s question about which child’s response was a sign of wisdom..perhaps all three are. Definitely two of the choices showed wisdom but the one who did what he had been told not to do may be in the process of gaining wisdom. It’s just going to take a little longer as he weighs the consequences of disobedience against the reward of doing what he wants to do.)
Before I wrap up today’s blog I want to suggest that passion is also one of the qualities of wisdom. It’s my opinion, that a truly wise woman is a woman of passion. I believe she feels things deeply and responds to those things for which she has passion with her actions and words.
A wise woman, who believes strongly in something, would not keep quiet or refuse to take action when confronted with something that needed her counsel or her commitment. A wise woman would recognize when she needs to speak up and provide leadership.
A wise woman would recognize that an issue or problem needs attention.
A wise woman would not ignore a cause she had strong convictions about.
A wise woman would listen to her convictions and respond accordingly.
A wise woman would confront the problem and as a result become a…
Force of Influence
And that’s what this is all about!
Wise Women 