3 Ways to Be a Wise Woman in Today's Foolish World
- Alisha Headley iBelieve Contributing Writer
- Published Nov 19, 2021
Most of us would agree we live in a foolish world. If you turn on the news for a single segment, you'll quickly come to realize that there are a lot of foolish decisions made by what we would consider maybe even some foolish people. Sometimes, we too, make unwise decisions and can, in turn, be foolish people. It's easy to make foolish decisions when we live in a foolish world.
It's easy to rely on our human wisdom rather than on the wisdom of God Himself. I Corinthians 1:25 states that "The foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans." If God is the wisest, why do we tend to turn to others for a source of wisdom? We tend to think we can make intelligent decisions independently and with our own understanding, or perhaps we lean on those around us that we admire to help us make wise decisions. It could be our mother, a friend we look up to, or even a pastor we turn to. While none of these resources are wrong to turn to, we must remember they are not the source Himself. As women, we need to rely on God to help guide us and navigate us through this foolish world. Because as that Scripture states, even the wisest person we know is nothing compared to God's most foolish plan if He were ever to have one.
Being a Wise Woman
Being a wise woman is someone who carries wisdom throughout every decision of her life. We need to be wise with who we marry, who we surround ourselves with, where we place our feet with a career and where we live. We must be wise in being a wife to our husbands and while handling our family affairs. We need to be wise as mothers bringing up our children in today's ever-changing, every-surprising, foolish world.
We, as women, have beautiful roles to play in this world. Whether it's a sister, daughter, mother, grandmother, wife, friend, or widow. Jesus came to this earth to lift women up because he saw the high cost we had. He restored women during His life here on earth. He healed them. He showed His redemptive purposes in their lives. He valued women and often lifted them up out of shame and set them on top of a hill.
He desires to do the same for us and has not left us empty-handed but instead has given us a personal guide. The Holy Spirit was given to us as a gift to be our "helper and teacher of all things." (John 14:26) He is available to help us become wise in today's foolish world, just as Jesus did in the first-century world with women when He, too, walked this earth. Because we have a lot of decisions to make in this life that could direct the course of our life, let's strive to be wise women. Here are three ways that we can become wise women in today's foolish world.
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![1. Fear the Lord]()
1. Fear the Lord
Slide 1 of 3Proverbs 9:10 says that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." To fear the Lord is where wisdom starts. Fear of the Lord is described as being "in awe" [reverence] (I Kings 3:28). Because fearing the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, we may live a life of foolishness without it. I recently wrote an article titled "5 Ways to Be a Woman Who Fears the Lord" that goes into greater detail on this topic. In order to fear the Lord, we must know Him; we do this by spending time with Him and seeking Him above all else in this world. We do this by diving into the Word where it is "Spirit-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16) by the Lord Himself. He will show up when you dig into His Word. God will reveal Himself as you begin to know more about Him - gaining more awe, love, and respect for Him and His faithfulness along with everything that makes God who He is. The more time we spend with Him, the more we learn about Him, the more we will fear Him, and the more we will conform to be more like Him. Romans 12:2 says to "not be conformed to this [foolish] world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Become a wise woman in today's foolish world by fearing the Lord and gaining more wisdom as you transform your mind. Renew it on the Word of God.
Photo credit: ©Unsplash/Nathan Dumlao
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![Woman alone in a house]()
2. Build Your House
Slide 2 of 3Proverbs 14:1 says, "The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands." A wise woman builds her house rather than a foolish one who tears it down. The foolish woman may tear down her home with her worldly possessions or relationships. Her own efforts and choices destroy it. It's choosing to live a life of folly by idolizing foolish things of the world or other people vs. idolizing and revering the Lord. Perhaps it's the foolish woman's tongue speaking death over those in her life and over her own life vs. walking in faith as she fears the Lord. It could be due to her idleness and laziness as to spending time in the Lord's presence gaining wisdom. It could simply be from her priorities not being aligned by "seeking first the Kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33) and not "loving the Lord with all her heart, all her mind, and all her soul." (Matthew 22:37) Instead, she is seeking other things and loving other things first and then hoping to bring God in after.
Whereas a wise woman in today's foolish world builds her life and foundation first and foremost on the security of the Lord. She does this by intentionally building her house by fearing the Lord, caring for her home, praying over those in her life, pursuing peace, making wise choices in her relationships with her husband and children, and building her life with everything that points her towards Christ.
All building takes time and intention. Picture brick set on brick, one at a time, day by day, on the truth of God's Word until a sturdy home is constructed. A wise home. One brick at a time, one choice at a time, one thought at a time, one forgiveness effort at a time, one prayer at a time, one surrender of one's will at a time. And over time, the house will be built securely on the foundation of God. To become a wise woman in today's foolish world, you must begin to build your house and not tear it down.
Photo credit: ©Anthony Tran/Unsplash -
![3. Remove Distractions and Clutter ]()
3. Remove Distractions and Clutter
Slide 3 of 3To become wise women in today's foolish world, we have to begin to remove the clutter in our lives. As we begin to fear the Lord and spend time with Him more and more, we begin to build our house on His Word and not the worlds. We also begin to remove the clutter from our lives, and God becomes our true source above all our worldly demands. Mary of Bethany is an example of a wise woman who understood Christ above any other thing and what nourishes one to make them wise. While Martha and her sister Mary hosted Jesus in their house, Mary chose to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to what He said. (Luke 10:38-42) She was in the presence of Jesus, and she put down her pots and pans so she could partake of the portion that could never be taken from her. To partake in God's presence and bask in His love. Meanwhile, Martha was "distracted" (Verse 40) with all the to-do's on her plate
Perhaps it's not the dishes that you need to remove from your life to spend time with the Lord. Perhaps it's the endless buffet line of other distractions infiltrating your creating foolish clutter. Are these flooding your mind with more foolishness than wisdom?
What if we began to turn off the TV, put our dishes and to-do's off to the side until tomorrow, take a break from social media, remove the noise of articles that are must-reads and news that promise the latest entertaining gossip? What if we put that friend or app on our phones on do not disturb for some time and begin to put our time into God and all He wants to speak to us about today and in this moment. You see – "He wants to fulfill His purpose in Heaven on earth" (Matthew 6:10) and wants to use us women to do so. But how is He supposed to fill us when our cup is too full of other things? Be a wise woman in today's foolish world by removing the clutter distracting us from our purposeful lives.
Photo credit: © Getty Images/shironosov
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