Arise and be called blessed

“She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue… Her children arise and call her blessed.” (Pr 31:26, 28)

Joyce’s words revealed the love of Jesus for me in a way I had not previously understood. She was instrumental in the rebirth of my faith.

Nancy kindled it. Her love for Jesus and faith in God was so compelling I wanted what she had. Countless hours were spent in the Scriptures as she revealed truth, how to live it, and how to love it.

Lisa shared her faith through the wisdom she poured into my life in a particularly difficult season.

Trudy has joined me in grappling with some of the harder things in life and how God and Jesus are still relevant.

These women join Julie, Krista, Anna, Linda, Jennifer and so many other treasured women in my life today that I arise and call blessed.

It is not a coincidence that Wisdom is a she in the Bible. Hopefully, we all have women in our lives who personify wisdom. Women I consider spiritual mothers.

What is a spiritual mother?

She is a woman who seeks her own time with the Lord and knows Jesus. From this, she encourages us in, even holds us accountable for, our relationship with Jesus.

A spiritual mother meditates on the Word of God and teaches, prays for us, and provides correction so that we come to know God at work in our lives and what the path of right living looks like. Her counsel is faithful instruction that can be trusted.

A spiritual mother is not one who has lived a perfect life. Far from it in fact. She has challenges, failures, heartaches, regrets, and victories just like we do. She is willing to share lessons learned – sometimes the hard way – so that we can benefit by her witness to God’s activity in her circumstances.

We have heard it said that with age comes wisdom but being a spiritual mother has nothing to do with chronological age and every thing to do with our willingness to grow our faith. How early and how well do we let God’s Word infiltrate our thinking and our actions? Some of my spiritual mothers are decades older and some are decades younger.

Regardless of age, spiritual mothers always point us to Jesus.

We all have women who have impacted our lives with their faith. Who has been a spiritual mother to you? Send her a note of thanks and encouragement, letting her know you call her blessed.

We all have women in our lives we are called to impact with our faith. There is a woman who needs to hear your story and see how God has been active in your life. Someone needs your prayers, your encouragement, and your faithful and wise instruction. There is someone who needs you to be their spiritual mother so that they can be your spiritual daughter. Pour into her so that she will arise and call you blessed.

Spiritual mother/daughter relationships do not happen by accident. They are grown over time and through investment in each other. They transcend time and location and bridge generations.

Be in the journey of life with others; those who will help you and those you will help along the way. May it be that we all arise and call someone blessed for the way they pointed us to Jesus.

#lifegivingwords  #livingholy