Women of Dignity

Genesis 2:21-23

So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. ²²Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. ²³The man said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Ôwoman, for she was taken out of man.

Men are what their mothers make them.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Women of Dignity Make a Difference:                                                                          Proverbs 24:3-4

By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; ⁴through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.

1.         Hannah, the protective mother.                                        1 Samuel 1:24-28

After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three‑year‑old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. ²⁵When they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the boy to Eli, ²⁶and she said to him, As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. ²⁷I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him.²⁸So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord. And he worshiped the Lord there.

2.         Eunice, the instructive mother.                                             2 Timothy 1:1-5

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,

²To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. ⁴Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

3.         Mrs. Zebedee, the progressive mother.                            Matthew 20:20-24

Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.

²¹ What is it you want? he asked.

She said, Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.

²² You don’t know what you are asking, Jesus said to them. Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?

We can, they answered.

²³Jesus said to them, You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.

²⁴When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.

4.         Mary, the supportive mother.                                                      John 19:25

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

Women of Dignity Shape Lives:                                                                                      Proverbs 31:30

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

1.         The shaping of character .                                                       Proverbs 10:1

A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.

2.         The shaping of attitudes .                                                      Proverbs 25:11

A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

3.         The shaping of destiny .                                                         Proverbs 22:6

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.