Hello there!
As we enter into the month of love, as popularly called, I would like to encourage you to reach out and show somebody some love, especially those who do not really have the means to pay you back…
Lift up feeble knees, pray for someone until something happens, Give food to the hungry, assist that girl get a job…do whatever you can to bring hope alive for someone
Do not forget that someone is counting on you today! Give a little cup of hope, would you<
Ciao
GENTLENESS
My answers to the above are;
SELF CONTROL
I would say for me
PEACE
As for me
PATIENCE
My Opinion
KINDNESS
For me I would say
LOVE
For me, I would say
JOY
My take
When I was growing up, my mum and I was always in a fight about the tone of my voice. You see, I am a very opinionated person and when I have something to say, I do not mince words.
Sweet mother would keep telling me, ” Marv, you can be gentle with your opinion” Being gentle to me is getting your point across without shouting or blowing your top. You can say what you have to say without leaving the other person bruised and wounded.
As the Holy Spirit bears this fruit in our lives, allow yourself to come under His divine rays where every ungentleness in how we treat others are brought to the redeeming presence of our Lord
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As we progress on this study of the Fruit of the spirit, it is my earnest desire that our lives are transformed to His glory by bearing the fruit.
Faithfulness means the attribute of sticking to something no matter the enormity of the challenges that you may encounter.
Simply put, when the Holy Spirit’s fruit of faithfulness manifests in you, you’re hardly moved…not your spiritual conviction, nothing changes your dedication to the things that has been handed over to you, you may shake by the wobbliness of life BUT you will keep standing.
When God has given you a word, a task, an assignment, the ability to stick to it is a function of the presence of this fruit.
The goodnews is that you can pick up from where you fell and ask God for the grace to be faithful to the ideas, the spouse, the business, the ministry He had committed into your hands.
Go be faithful!
“A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds”
Proverbs 31:10
The recession bit hard! First it started with the reduction of her husband’s pay check, then came the announcement that the company could not keep up with the enormous task of paying overhead without commensurate profit and then the retrenchments. Her husband was affected. He had had a lucrative job that paid all the bills to a T and she didn’t have to soil her toes…except of course it had to do with running after the kids and taking care of the home front.
Then reality set in! Her allowance dwindled and then came to a grinding halt. She knew she had to readjust. Her marriage oaths said “For better or for worse”. They had no savings left to fall back on and truth be told, they had been a little bit too comfortable and had forgotten to cover their backs. No one ever anticipated that her husband of all people would be affected…but he was. That was the reality they had to deal with.
She dusted her resume. She was a trained and qualified accountant and had to knock on several doors until a window finally opened for her from which some rays of sunlight streamed in until her husband found something else to do to earn some income.
The scene above represents the reality of some women. Single, married, single mother or whatever role you currently play, life deals different cards to you at different stages of your life. Some of these experiences require that you make a decision; decide to be a pushover and do nothing or take the bull by the horn and respond with equal strength.
In the example above, strength was shown by the support the woman gave to her husband in trying times. Don’t let anyone fool you, it is a lot sweeter to be weak than strong…at least for a while that is, until you have to go through the famous reality checks.
It could be a single woman battling with all kinds of ailments where it is just easier to give up and give in to fear or dealing with lack and joblessness and it’s easy to just lose yourself and trade your significance to become a certified dependent (meanwhile nothing do your hands and feet o, cos let’s face it :people become CEOs and yet are far less opportuned than you are).
It can also be just someone who has accepted the status quo that women never amount to anything good or are not as intelligent as their male counterpart. In this part of the world, where I am privileged to come from, it is very common for a woman who have lots of female children to be looked upon as a dismal failure (since in addition to being a living human oven, she also shares God’s position as being a child giver, perhaps). Or you happen to be raised in that kind of family where any investment preferences are first given to the important males in the family then you get the leftovers.
Back up a little bit sister. Grab your cup of green tea (since the fad these days is to stay trim), let’s think about this logically shall we? You have to be a lot of things in one. You are the one who is endowed with intuitiveness, great multi-tasking skills, ability to smile even when you are losing blood every month and it hurts like hell or worse, you carry a human being for nine months who goes in as a tiny cell called sperm and comes out as a fully developed human being, you are the only one who can drive, and plan the menu and deliver the speech all in your mind at one time. You are a lot of things in one, remember! And you let people get away with calling you weak? Think again! Do not lose the hidden treasure that God has put into you. For in keeping your head high comes the noble character to keep walking tall (not necessarily on heels though:mrgreen:). You are God’s finest creation. Noble, strong and very beautiful inside out.
Marvellous Okoro (Mrs)
You want to reach me? I would love to hear from you.
Call: +234 8080494545
Write: theproverbs31club@gmail.com
Being a woman is not a joke! As a woman, you put on a lot of hats and still manage to be Feminine! Bravo! There is the daughter, sister, wife, mom, friend, influencer, career woman and entrepreneur amongst other hats. You are indeed a wonder. Let us examine this roles briefly to understand what makes us really unique.
Daughter: Since, thankfully, you did not drop out of the sky or just show up on earth by some weird super-human powers but were born of a fellow woman, you became a daughter first. So you are at mum (and dad’s) tutelage. If you are lucky, you get constantly reminded of what pain it took to bring you to this world. You are trained to handle yourself as ‘a lady’ and be prim, proper and everything in between. You get pampered and even treated as a princess. Cool yeah? Although some other people don’t get all these privileges. They learn the realities of lack, abuse (sad), they are sickly, suffer deprivation, are raped by trusted family members and all what not. You want to know the way I like to look at these? Any of the sides of the globe you seem to be experiencing, I believe these experiences wire you for a reason. It’s called PURPOSE. I have learned that there is use in the most ‘dirtiest’ form of experience. So as a daughter, do not totally push away those ‘nasty’ memories. Make lemonades!
Sister: If you happen to have siblings (biological and adopted) then you assume the dignifying position of a sister. You become an encourager, you learn to love, start looking out for some other person apart from yourself, you become a confidant, like it or not you teach your sibling the earliest act of negotiation and conflict management and in my case, you become a mini mom! The role of a sister is absolutely amazing. Arent sisters just wonderful?
Wife: This role, unlike the first two, is like a job role. You plan for it and actually DECIDE to fill in that job role. You don’t become a wife by accident. You take the offer. Since this is a role with so many responsibilities, it is important not to take on the job of a wife without thinking about it long and hard and praying about it. Let’s look at the four major (in my opinion) roles of this position
Prayer partner: Since marriage is more spiritual than physical, you have to realise that when a couple pray together, they stay together. You agree in prayers and command situations in prayers
Cheer leader: You become your spouse’s cheer leader. You have to realise that your job would include encouraging, praying with, along and for him, support him and be his greatest ally. This is not a simple task but it is made seamless when the active ingredient of LOVE is at play
Lover: Let’s get this out already. You know how sex is an important ingredient in every union? It is what validates a union. It may seem the easiest out of the job roles but it is actually not as easy as it sounds. Here is why: a lot of people come in with various orientation and experiences about this subject. A good understanding of yourselves is essential in making this successful and fulfilling
Helper: Ladies, this is one task that was assigned by the Almighty Himself when He declared that He was making you a ‘helper suitable for him’.
Some women have walked into the wrong marriage and have been left with scars or something bigger: regrets and bitterness. Well, I know some who can turn your experiences around for good. That is God Almighty. Before we go ahead, decide not to give the devil the chance to determine your end irrespective of the point in the curve where you currently are.
Mom: This position is very prestigious and requires a lot of expectations. It can be a progression of the wife role or just straight from the daughter/sister roles. It may be biologically earned or through adoption. What is important, though, is the fact that as a mom, you are responsible for another human being who is entirely dependent upon you. You become a mentor, a teacher, a nurse, an entertainer and a lot of other stuff. That’s why I said it is a prestigious role and not to be taken lightly.
The Social Bird: Then there is the friend, influencer and the role model. This role gives you the opportunity to leave an impact in the life of someone.
Career Woman/ Entrepreneur: This is the part where you get to play in the economic sphere of things, compete/compliment the male counterpart, be economically empowered and may even get the chance to make history by pushing to the peak
Whatever role(s) you fit into right now, remember that you are irreplaceable. The experience that you have gathered can change another person’s life for good. Do not underestimate yourself.
Marvellous Okoro (Mrs)
You want to reach me? I would love to hear from you.
Call: +2348080494545 Write: theproverbs31club@gmail.com
September reminds me of the blossoming and new beginnings. It is a time that people usually go back to the drawing board to evaluate the happenings of the past eight months. The heralding of the “ember” months has that effect on a lot of people.
This month at The Proverbs 31 Club, we are going to be re evaluating ourselves in the light of what is vis a vis what ought to be.
Beautiful inside and outside is the theme culled from Proverbs 31:10-31.It promises to be fresh, insightful and practical. Please don’t forget to share!
To reach me
Call: +2348080494545
Write: theproverbs31club@gmail.com
The Proverbs 31 Club 