Family and Relationships: A Capable Woman - a Caring Society
The final 22 verses of chapter 31 in the book of Proverbs present an acrostic poem in which each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This poem contains the sage advice of a mother to her son, a king named Lemuel. She outlines for him what he should be looking for in a prospective wife. Lemuel's mother describes a capable woman, one any mother would be delighted to see her son marry. It is a woman she describes that would inevitably help create the family and relationships her son would have one day.
This woman is a jewel. She can be trusted (verse 11) to do the right thing, whether in evaluating and purchasing real estate (verse 16), buying and selling merchandise (verses 14 and 24), managing the household staff (verses 15 and 27), providing for the needs of her family (verses 15 and 21), or helping the poor and needy (verse 20). She is an industrious individual (verses 13, 15, 17-19, 22). She is a person of inner strength (verse 25), wisdom and compassion (verse 26).
Though this portrayal describes an idealized woman whose characteristics would be hard for anyone, woman or man, to live up to, it says a lot about the biblical ideal for society. Caring for her family and supporting her husband is her primary focus, but neither her husband nor the society in which she lives constrains her from using her many skills. She is able to serve her family and others because the cultural and legal standards of her society give her freedom to function in areas that many societies, even to this day, prohibit women from entering.
While few individuals can measure up to this idealized standard, even fewer societies throughout history have accorded women the opportunities and freedom to do so. The biblical ideal portrayed in Proverbs 31 indicates that the cultural standards the Creator set for His people were far more progressive than many would believe.
The Bible relates that God created man and woman in His image (Genesis 1:27). The first woman, Eve, is pictured as having been created from Adam's rib, not as some subspecies but as a person of comparable talents and abilities (Genesis 2:18). In marriage, a woman is instructed to submit to her husband's authority (1 Peter 3:1), but in the next breath the husband is commanded to treat her with understanding and to honor her as one having the same potential for eternal life–"heirs together of the grace of life," as the apostle Peter expressed it (verse 7).
The biblical model for society is patriarchal in structure, but it has little in common with the selfish, uncaring, male-dominated patriarchies this world has produced throughout history. Rather, the biblical model reflects God's own loving character. A husband is to love his wife as much as he does himself, and the wife is to respect her husband (Ephesians 5:33). A society with this at its foundation doesn't establish a multitude of rules restricting women at every point of the compass.
Some fortunate couples have succeeded in working together in the kind of loving harmony and respect implied by Proverbs 31, but sadly it has never become norm for our society and culture as the Bible directs us to follow.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)Having Dating Options And Exercising Them
Unless you been popular with the opposite sex your entire life, today's topic is uncharted territory for you. Although just about anyone who is highly eligible can struggle with what we are about to talk about, it's those who have most recently made changes in their lives resulting in increased popularity who are most confounded by it.
Since we're all about helping you have a wildly successful dating life around here, you may be closer than you think the day when you find yourself confronted with the concept of having real OPTIONS when it comes to who you are dating. And that's a great place to be.
The vast majority of people on Earth quite simply do not have a copious supply of people who can't wait to be with them romantically. Perhaps that's why so many of us end up marrying the first (and often times the only) person who is willing to "put up with us".
Invariably, this leads to a state that I non-affectionately refer to as having "settled". "Settling" leads eventually to both partners experiencing virtually zero fulfillment from the relationship. He or she who has "settled" will always have his or her nose pressed to the glass gazing at the greener pastures outside. Meanwhile, his or her partner is likely to become very bitter in a relatively short period of time knowing that he or she is not "enough" for the other. Feeling inadequate–let alone BEING inadequate–is a humiliating existence. For that matter, a partner who feels as if he or she has "settled" can also feel humiliated at times-generally when others think (either implicitly or explicitly) that he or she could have "done better".
So who has the more miserable existence? The partner who is forever feeling slighted or the partner who is longing for better and embarrassed to be seen in public together? I don't know and I don't care, frankly. The point is that YOU don't have to be either one of them.
In your case, the greatest gift bestowed upon you by having options is that you are thereby decreasing the probability that you will end up "settling" as indeed most others do. Instead of taking whatever you can get, even if only for a single date as is the case for many people, you have CHOICES.
The experience of having options is a key earmark of dating success. You are truly attractive to the opposite gender and are doing things right. Now, simply put, you have to give yourself permission to explore those options.
It is my opinion that one who has the choice among numerous worthy members of the opposite sex should be dating several of them at once until he or she has not only a clear picture of what he or she wants in a mate, but indeed until he or she feels that person has actually been identified.
One does not have to sacrifice character or integrity in order to do this effectively. Your reputation as a man or woman of integrity and class is not at stake simply because you are getting to know other people more often (and more efficiently, frankly) than you used to.
If you are more comfortable dating one person at a time, I can't deny that it will be easier for you to manage your dating life. And there is, of course, no inherent fault in doing so. Yet, I maintain that life is simply too short to stick with one potential partner you are unsure of until being fully sure he or she is not what you want. The only way to quickly gain the most effective perspective on what your ultimate partner will be like is to date as many people as you can.
Unless and until you do that, all of your own conjecture regarding what you want in a person is merely unproven speculation, isn't it? In order to maximize your dating success, you must leverage the options you have towards having a greater sense of exactly what kind of person you want to be with long term.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)How to Catch Your Cheating Spouse
Are you sick and tired of your spouse suspicious behavior? Do you think that your spouse is cheating on you? The important to remember is don't just use your instinct about sign of your cheating spouse that can make ashamed to yourself and make you to accusing some innocent parties because you have a wrong conclusion. You should learn some prevalent signs of a cheating spouse.
<b>Here are some prevalent signs of a cheating spouse: </b>
- Sudden increase in late night work at the office, especially with men, but this goes both ways, can mean your spouse is cheating. My advice is to surprise your spouse at the office with a surprise dinner.
- If you already suspect your spouse of cheating on you and you want to catch him, the best way of action is to keep quiet and not give the cheating spouse any hint of your suspicion.
- If your spouse is lying it's usually quite obvious, they will as not looking you in the eye when speaking to you, acting nervous ,become uncomfortable with quite reasonable and conversation about their day and will make up stories, try and change the topic of discussion or find an excuse to go and do something else.
- If you feel you've found enough to heighten your suspicions follow your spouse, check to see who they are meeting, if you have a reasonable excuse for being in the same area perhaps bump into them and see how they react, but remember you should keep calm down.
- Look for the credit card and phone statements as investigative tools is to ask your spouse straight out about suspicious charges. If they have reason to be ashamed about the charges, their reaction will most likely give you the answers you were seeking.
- This may sound outrageous but if you have the password to your spouse's email, then check his mails in a public computer or internet shop.
These are just some of signs of cheating spouse. The important thing when you think that your spouse cheat on you is not to get emotional and don't try to figure out this matter only with you instinct. Because you need more than instinct to catch your cheating spouse. You need have enough proof about their cheating, before you confront your spouse.
Never ask your cheating spouse about her/his cheat until you have enough evidence that your spouse is cheating on you, because your spouse will lie to you. And if your spouse knows that you actually don't have any proof or you may not sure about what it really happened, you cheating spouse will be more careful from now on, and this will make it almost impossible for you to gather hard evidence.
You can get the evidence by hiring a private investigator to follow your spouse and let you know definitively whether or not your spouse is cheating on you. But hiring a private investigate can be costly though so if you can do a little investigating on your own you might be able to avoid this cost and of course you no need to expose about your life to other.
Remember, you must be catch your cheating spouse with solid evidence, understand your facts 100% and have concrete evidence before you make accusations so they can't lie their way out of anymore! Learn this <b>Proven Strategies how to catch your cheating spouse.</b>
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