Agape love. Selfless love. Marla shares God is love and love is orderly. Love has rules. Love has consequences. It's all still love. Our culture, the enemy, is on a mission to distort love. May today's podcast encourage us all to have love, the way God describes it.

Starting the "Month of Love" off right...asking God for help. Speaking to people with an undercurrent of love, this is how we are heard. God gave us the answer, how to communicate to win. It must be done in love. Be prepared to put what we learn into practice. God has a funny way of providing opportunity to make sure we understand exactly what He means. We will pass this test in the name of Jesus.

This passage encourages all of us women to let beauty come from within. Beauty is definitely fleeting, but a beautiful heart is always beautiful. Prov 31 reminds us that the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. This is a command, to praise the woman who fears the Lord.

I pray that we are all praising the women in our lives who fear the Lord. Women should be honored as they honor the Lord. Let us hold fast to God's Word, strong and courageous with a gentle and quiet spirit. This is pleasing to the Lord. What a wonderful reminder to keep the main things, the main things. 

What an incredible challenge...many women have done excellently but you surpass them all! Surpassing excellence! We aren't comparing ourselves to anyone. We are doing better today than we did yesterday. That's who we are, women surpassing excellence. No fear here. No comparison here. Surrounding ourselves with people living excellently to encourage us on our journey of obedience and meeting God's expectations. Challenge accepted!

What a beautiful reminder to children and husbands...don't forget to bless mom with your words. Blessing mom will create a home that will strengthens our children. When a mother is appreciated and spoken kindly too, she will flourish in the home. Marla shares examples of all the ways her father strengthened her life by the way he spoke of her mother. Thankful for God's example of how family members are to treat mothers.

What does it look like to "look well over the ways of our households"? Marla shares her thoughts on setting your family up for success. She addresses being a mom of grown children who are married and have their own children. Making time. Planning ahead and being prepared to bless our families with food and attention...this is the way of the Proverbs 31 woman.

We are all leading. Are we leading in strength and dignity? I pray we follow the example of the Proverbs 31 woman who speaks with kindness and laughs at the days to come. This is power, the ability to trust God with everything beyond our control. Knowing that He loves us and He is working, we are able to laugh at the days to come because we have no fear of the future. What a beautiful challenge for us all. 

What an incredible passage reminding us that the Prov 31 woman has a reputation for doing business well. She is diligent and competent, her strength is setting her husband up for success. What a privilege and responsibility! God please help us to LIFT our families. Help us to lead with competence and diligence. Amen.

What does it look like to live excellently? Proverbs 31:22 describes a woman who is a good steward with money. She's a good steward with her time and resources. This woman is a hard worker and dressed in fine linens. Marla shares a personal story from growing up with her meticulous father. He believed that you should always look your best for your spouse before dress up for anyone else. Very challenging thoughts to ponder. Lord, please help us all be a little more like the Proverbs 31 woman.

This Proverbs 31 woman demonstrated order in her home. She planned ahead. Our families will benefit from us leading with order in our homes. As these verses remind us to care for the needy and care for our homes, we're reminded that we are training our children to, in turn, train their children in the same way. And so we build a legacy or caring for others and strengthening our families.