Virtuous Young Ladies - Part 2
By Trish M.
Beautiful Ladies! What's up?
Oh I've missed you guys! Guess what? My mum's baby is due this month and it's a girl. How exciting. Well enough about me - how are you? I hope you are blessed! Okay so this is part 2 of the Virtuous Young Ladies Series.
If you haven't read the first part, this is a 10 piece series on 10 qualities I think all Proverbs 31 women of Valour should have. The first attribute is Faith. The 2nd trait is LOVE. Let me begin with John 13:34-15. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
Girls, we need love. The world needs love. Have you ever been sitting with your friends and the conversation has turned into a gossip session about other girls? Yeah, stop right there. Stop. That's not love. Love is when you encourage each other. As Christians, God wants us to encourage and lift others up, not put them down. We are the chosen people, so, come on, let's act like it. I have heard so many stories in 2012 of girls (I speak of girls because this series is for girls) committing suicide and other horrible things like self-harm because they were bullied, and this bullying is usually verbal bullying that causes emotional and psychological trauma, from other girls. If we loved each other then we wouldn't hurt and judge each other so much.
I understand that judging is part of human nature. As soon as you see someone, your instinct is to judge what they are wearing, if you think they are pretty or not, the way they talk, etc. But the word of God says "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." That's in the book of 1st John 4 , verses 7-21. So instead of noticing how much you don't like the shirt that girl is wearing, why don't you notice and tell her "how pretty her eyes are." This will not only potentially make you amazing, lifelong friends but you will be fulfilling God's commands.
God wants us to love each other, so what better reasons do we need? The best part about displaying love is that you are also displaying a fruit of the spirit. In the Bible, in Galatians 5:22, the word of the Lord says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and faithfulness." Notice how the first fruit of the spirit is love. Once you display love, it's an automatic that you're going to be joyful, at peace, patient, kind, good and faithful because you love. Another reason to love is because we as Christians are trying to be like Jesus. Jesus loved everybody and showed His love by dying for us ALL. Let's pace ourselves though, probably no need to die for anybody, but we do need to have that kind of love. The love that will die for others.
So how do we show love?
Let's be really practical and literal. We can show love by: Helping others! If you see somebody who needs help and it is appropriate to help, then just help. Another way we can love is by encouraging others! Instead of discouraging and disempowering people, lets encourage and empower people. As mentioned before, another way is to compliment people. I try to compliment at least 1 person a day because making people smile and feel good about themselves is great but we must do this genuinely. Yet another way we can show love is by being generous. This doesn't mean you have to give thousands of money to charities. You could be generous by buying something for your mum instead of those cute shoes you wanted. I'm just saying!
Anyways Ladies, please stay beautiful. I love you all!
