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Encouragement for wise women or those who want to become one. By Claudia Bäcker
Reading time: 12 minutes
Four Bible verses for you right at the beginning:
“I will bless you and you shall be a blessing!” (Genesis 12:2)
“For each of us should please his neighbor for good, for edification.” (Romans 15:2)
“For … Mordecai was … beloved … because he sought the best of his people and spoke for the good of his whole family.” (Esther 10:3)
“Behold, you have instructed many and strengthened weary hands. Your words have lifted up the stumbling one, and you have strengthened the feeble knees.” (Job 4:3-4)
Dear older sisters,
do you know that God has a very special task for us? A place in his work that no one else can fill as well as we can, because we, who are no longer or only marginally employed, have been given the time – namely: to be a teacher of good!
When I heard the song years ago: “A man after God’s own heart …” (lyrics and music: Daniel Jacobi), the longing grew in me, “I want to become a woman after the heart of God…” This became my great prayer request until today, the Lord gave me valuable books on the subject and works very much on my heart and character, for which I am very, very grateful to Him. To HIM be all the glory!
As I grew older, Psalm 92:13-15 became a strong encouragement and motivation for me to know my high calling of God in the vineyard of the LORD. If you memorize it, these verses can also be a great encouragement to you again and again:
“The righteous will sprout like a palm tree, he will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the LORD will flourish in the courts of our God; even in old age they will bear fruit, full of sap and fresh.”
Teachers of the good
“The following applies to older women: they should reflect God’s holiness in their entire demeanor. This includes not slandering anyone and not giving in to drunkenness. As teachers of goodness, they should instruct the young women to love their husbands and children, to be prudent, pure and kind, to manage their households well and yet to submit willingly to their husbands, so that God’s message will not be discredited through them.” (Titus 2:3-5 NEW/HFA/DBU)
In humble submission
“Submit to one another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as to the Lord [and only “as is fitting in the Lord” (Colossians 3:18)] … Husbands … let each of you love his wife as himself; but let the wife reverence her husband. … This will win even those men who do not want to listen to the word of God. The example of your life will convince them more than any words. They will be won to God simply by your character and actions, because they will observe how pure and godly you live.” (Ephesians 5:21-24, 33; 1 Peter 3:1-2 NL/NEV)
This became very important to me, I never want to forget it and always keep it in my heart and wish it for you too: “But the ultimate goal of instruction is love out of a pure heart and a good conscience and unfeigned faith.” (1 Timothy 1:5)
A great task
I was deeply touched by the fact that the Lord has provided a great task for us older women, and this field of work is infinitely large and the place that we are allowed to fill is almost unoccupied. Everyone is needed, with their gifts and talents, personally called by the Lord, until the end of our lives. Isn’t that overwhelming?
“Even in old age they bear fruit, they are full of sap and fresh.” (Psalm 92:15) This promise has made me very happy. It is an indescribable blessing to walk this path according to Titus 2: To be a teacher of goodness.
In repentance over the wrong path
If we have neglected this very special task so far, we can draw on Isaiah 1:18: “If your sins are like scarlet, they shall become white as snow; if they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” Our confession of sin can turn us into liberated children of God.
Dear sisters, do not strive for the tasks of the brothers in the church. As women, let us take the place where HE wants to bless us and through us others! I invite you all to rededicate yourselves to the Lord, to let Him use you in the place He has planned for you and me and all of us for the great blessing of our young marriages, families, churches and fellow human beings in general.
Encourage the older sisters where you live to do this ministry according to Titus 2: to be “teachers of good”. The Lord is waiting for us, He wants to empower us! Do you feel weak, incapable? HE promises: “Be content with my grace, for my strength is made perfect in weakness!” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
Do you feel unworthy of this task because perhaps you yourself (like probably a large proportion of us) have not been instructed? Do you yourself struggle with some points in Titus 2? I want to encourage you: We have a great God from whom we can expect great things.
Learning from God
I found the following valuable thought on a postcard that really encouraged me:
“We need time to realize that God only fills empty hands, That there the best fruits ripen, Where weakness wraps itself in strength.”
“So go now: I will be with your mouth and teach you what you should say!” (Exodus 4:12)
Practical blessing for others
Song: “Is your life a blessing for others …? Refrain: Make me a blessing for others today, make me a blessing at all times, take my life, completely devoted to YOU, make me a blessing for others today.” (Internationales Liederbuch, p. 302) I have made the refrain of this song my prayer, wherever I am among people, that the LORD will open my eyes and my heart where HE wants to use me as a blessing for someone. It touches me how HE never leaves this prayer unanswered.
Some practical possibilities are (depending on our strength, ability and the need of the other person):
– Passing on a helpful tract or sharing a heartwarming link
– A friendly greeting with sincere sympathy for their condition
– A word of encouragement
– Recommend a book or video or, if possible, give one as a gift
– If necessary, ask if you can help in a practical way, e.g. babysitting, ironing, etc.
– Offer small topics in theory and practice in the church, e.g. healthy cooking, our home …
Ellen White writes: “Instruction should be given … also in housekeeping, in healthful cooking, in sewing, in making practical clothing, in nursing, and the like.” (Eating Consciously – Living Consciously, 349)
Complicity in failed marriages?
I have realized something very serious for myself: I think that we older sisters may also be “complicit” in some way, in the breakup or unhealthy family atmosphere of many a young marriage. Without instruction (if young women have not trained themselves or been instructed by their parents) they often go into marriage unprepared in the practical issues of life and even simple, small things that could easily be changed with good will and God’s help can then cause disagreements and lead to break-up over time.
Another valuable, extremely blessed ministry is the ministry to our young people. Where are many of our dear young people in the church? My heart burns for them!
Gaining trust
I would like to encourage you, dear older sisters, to win their trust with much love, kindness, humility and warmth of heart. Seek eye contact, give them a friendly look, a warm smile, a good word of encouragement or comfort. Ask them how they are doing, take an interest in their interests, their school, education, etc. Show genuine interest! Ask our heavenly Father for great love for our young people (including the children). HE will never leave this prayer unanswered if it is our heart’s desire. Love them towards Jesus and into the church. Don’t ask about the mistakes and failures of the past in family and church. Reach out to them, let us be a blessing (Genesis 12:2)!
Give a word of encouragement to old brothers and sisters who are not healthy or no longer have any strength, who are perhaps lonely, who can no longer attend church, cheer them up with a phone call, a visit, a card from time to time, depending on your own strength. Perhaps one or more young people can even be persuaded to sing or read something to someone who finds reading difficult, or to run an errand or something similar.
Is there a mom who has a baby or several children? Perhaps she could use an extra pair of hands or someone to look after the baby for a short errand.
Top priority in the morning
Consecrate yourself to our heavenly Father, personally and for service! Don’t allow anything, no matter how good, to occupy you more or mean more to you than Jesus himself. Only in his presence are we transformed and ennobled and this has an effect on our whole life and our ministry:
“Abide in me, and I in you! Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing … If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you … You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.” (John 15:4-5, 7, 14).
May HE always be the center of our thoughts, our actions, our whole life and thereby HIS name be glorified and our love for HIM grow more and more. All our actions should be placed in our hearts by HIM and lead to HIM as the only source of life.
Find liberation
“But this is a fast in which I delight: Let go of those you have bound with unrighteousness, release those on whom you have put a yoke. Release those you oppress, tear away every yoke!” (Isaiah 58:6)
Hurting someone can happen so quickly through the wrong choice of words, a word at the wrong moment, through a lack of warmth and preparation in prayer and the Bible.
I am so thankful that we have a faithful, loving, merciful Father in heaven who forgives failure through humble repentance and repentance and even wants to turn it into blessing. To HIM be all the glory!
United in the love of Jesus, I wish you courage, strength, joy and many blessed experiences on this path.
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Source: hoffnung-weltweit.info
