by: Pamela Lozano
“Charm can be misleading, and beauty is vain and so quickly fades, but this virtuous woman lives in the wonder, awe, and fear of the Lord. She will be praised throughout eternity.” – Proverbs 31:30
Virtue defined is conforming to moral and ethical principles; being morally excellent; upright; not engaging in sexual relations; undefiled; stainless. These things are definitely not the cultural norm, especially with teens and young adults. In fact, when you think of someone who’s morally upright, you think of a super-religious person who sticks out from the crowd. Virtue is the exact opposite of what society is promoting – sex! It embraces a trust in God’s rules and understands there is a reason to wait for sex until marriage.
In Proverbs 31, the woman in this scripture is described by Solomon as virtuous. He acknowledges that God values virtue, because he ends it by saying “she will be praised throughout eternity”. What a concept! That women who embrace God’s value of being virtuous will literally be praised for all of eternity.
It isn’t easy to be a woman who goes against the grain and normal ways of society. Leaders lead, they stand out from the crowd and as believers we are literally called to be different from the world. We are supposed to look, act and sound differently than women who do not know Jesus.
Take a minute to reread through the scripture we opened this blog with and grab a journal and write your answers to the following questions. Let God speak to you as you think through each question below:
Questions:
- Why do you think there is value in living a virtuous life?
- Name specific women you know who you consider virtuous who would be women you could follow their example. (Married women are virtuous by only being with their husbands sexually.)
- What do you think Solomon means by “charm can be misleading”?
- Why do you think so many people think virtue is an outdated concept?
- Why should you desire to be a woman of virtue?
If you’ve messed up in this area, God loves redemption! He is eager to forgive our mistakes and allow us to start over. All you have to do is repent – which means acknowledge what you’ve done wrong and change your actions. If you desire to repent, simply pray, acknowledge your sin, ask for forgiveness and a brand-new start.
Resource Recommendation: Pure Design recently released a new devotional – “Purity’s Still in Style”. It is a 6-week study on the topic of purity as a lifestyle in a spiral bound journal that is great to write in. Week five is all on sexual purity, and the final week talks all about redemption. You can purchase a copy on our website at puredesignmag.wpengine.com if you want to learn more.
Pamela Lozano is the Founder & President of Pure Design Ministries & Magazine. She is an inspirational speaker of topics of faith, self-image, self-worth & purity. She loves to lead worship and spend time with her three grown kids and husband, Jake. Pamela has been a Youth Pastor for over twenty years and loves to mentor the next generation to live whole-heartedly for Christ. She also loves to coach young women to identify and pursue their dreams.
