By: Betty Predmore
So much time has been spent over the years on trying to be a better “me”. I have strived daily, monthly, and yearly to be more like that marvelous woman we read about in Proverbs 31. I have worked diligently, I have loved my family, I have shown respect to my husband. I have received his praise and love for my efforts and the last time I asked, my children still love me. I have been SOME of her every day, but never ALL of her in a single day.

Years have come and years have gone. The hands of time have left their mark upon me. There are wrinkles where smooth skin once resided, and I thank God daily for the hair color that hides my grays. And along those years, as I have put forth my efforts to gain those sweet virtues found in Proverbs, my heart and soul have matured in the things of God. The realization has come to me that although I have been striving for some time to be like that Proverbs 31 woman, I have been slowly becoming that “other woman”. You know the one… we find her in Titus 2:3-5. She is among those women that are older, more mature women, who know the Lord well and have enjoyed that relationship with Him for many years. She belongs to that group of women who are “reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things-that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.”

When did this happen? How did I get to this point in my physical and spiritual maturity? Am I up to the task? God has used the passage of time and my desire to serve Him to bring me to this place in my life and in my responsibility. He has called me out to be an example to those younger women who are where I was in what seems like such a short time ago. He expects me to live a life that portrays that of a Godly woman, a life that models to others how to act and how to treat those that we love. Is it hard sometimes? ABSOLUTELY! But it is no harder to be that Titus woman than it is to attain all the qualities that the Proverbs 31 lady possesses.

Ladies, are you striving for goodness? Do you find yourself at a level of maturity in which God is calling you to be an example to the younger generation? Are you up to the task? Are you somewhat surprised by the passage of time? What an absolute honor and blessing it is when we get to be that shining example for our beloved Lord! What a sweet and precious gift our maturity brings to others! I pray that your desire is the same as mine today….to open your heart to the opportunity God has placed before you, to pour out your love and wisdom to those who seek to grow in a way that pleases their Lord, and to celebrate that life has brought us to this place in our journeys where He trusts us enough to use us in this way. I am excited to be the other woman! Are you?