Well, mothers, and some of you, I get that Mother's
Day sometimes comes with some baggage. I'm always
talking about my parents. I understand that many
have a lot of woundedness coming from childhood.
And Mother's Day can be complicated. And I've
always been very thankful for the parents that
I've been given because I had such a wonderful
childhood. And I wish that every child, sometimes
I'm in the stores and I hear parents just yelling
at their kids. And I just want to take the kids
under my wing and comfort them. And so I understand
today that Mother's Day can be difficult, not
just for you as a son or a daughter, but moms.
Some of you here, you've walked through difficult
times with your kids. Some of you have always
wanted kids and never had the opportunity. When
we celebrate Mother's Day, I always say that
today, moms, all of you women, Whether you've
had a biological child or not, you are welcome
under the tent. I am a big believer in spiritual
mothering. I'm a big believer that you don't
have to give birth in a biological manner to
be a mother. that I know many of you have poured
out into other sons and daughters. And so please
make sure all of you make your way to the tent.
We want to celebrate you this morning. My hope
and my prayer today is that, ladies, you would
feel inspired, you would feel full of hope and
courage as you leave here today. And so with
that in mind... I'll be honest, Nick, who worked
so hard, and how many of you appreciated Nick's
countdown? I had to be sure to come in and watch
his countdown. Honestly, I was a bit hesitant
in the previous weeks to declare my sermon title
becoming a Proverbs 31 woman, because if all
of the people in here were just women, many of
the women would have a little bit of an issue
and baggage with Proverbs 31. For many women,
it is been a source of feeling like they've never
measured up, of failure, of trying to attain
something that feels unattainable. And so I was
hesitant to even put that up there. But this
is the Word of God. And I want us today, as we
look at this passage, I want us to look at it.
It's not just, oh, another Mother's Day Proverbs
31 message. No, we're going to look at a correct
interpretation of Proverbs 31. How many of you
would like a correct interpretation of Proverbs
31 and what that means for us, right? And so
today in this whole passage, our highlights,
our verse that we really want to look at is going
to be at the end in verse 30 that says, a woman
who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. She
shall be praised. What has happened with Proverbs
31 is that we've gotten sidetracked by everything
that this woman has done, and we miss really
the whole point. And so today I want us to get
this whole point. So we're going to take a little
bit of a journey through Proverbs 31. We're going
to discover a few attractions on the way. And
so we're going to start in first gear. Now how
many of you have driven a stick shift before?
Mom was having to re -familiarize herself with
it on the drive over because that is the Mustang.
My first car was a stick shift, and I'm forever
thankful that that was my first car so that I
could learn how to drive in that way. So today
we're going to just shift our way through this
sermon. And so here in first gear, I want us
to look at a couple of interesting facts about
Proverbs 31. And in Proverbs 31, This is a passage
that is not just a list of who this woman was.
This is actually a poem. Proverbs 31 is a poem.
And each line begins with a letter of the Hebrew
alphabet. And so what is happening throughout
this passage is that every time we have another
letter and another letter, it's a poem. And it's
a poem, and how many of you ever said a phrase
like, when we're talking about I'm going to totally
cover a topic from A to Z, we say that, right?
Meaning that we're going to cover a topic in
its entirety. Our takeaway from this poem is
in the same sense. Every Hebrew letter is the
beginning line. And so from A to Z, they are
covering what this woman consists of. And so,
first of all, it isn't just this list of everything
this woman is capable of. It is a poem that is
more than that. the telling of the fruit of what
we're going to discover is the real driving factor
of what drives this woman. And so we're going
to take a broad look at this woman, and I'm going
to be reading today out of New King James. And
I want us just to begin by reading through the
passage, and then we're going to dive into it.
So starting in verse 10, who can find a virtuous
wife? I want to take note there that a lot of
passages will say noble. Who can find a noble
wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The
heart of her husband safely trusts her, so he
will have no lack of gain. She does him good
and not evil all the days of her life. She seeks
wool and flax and willingly works with her hands.
She is like the merchant ships. She brings her
food from afar. She also rises while it is yet
night and provides food for her household and
a portion for her maidservants. She considers
a field and buys it. From her profits, she plants
a vineyard. She girds herself with strength and
strengthens her arms. She perceives that her
merchandise is good. and her lamp does not go
out by night. She stretches out her hands to
the distaff, and her hand holds the spindle.
She extends her hand to the poor. Yes, she reaches
out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid
of snow for her household, for all her household
is clothed with scarlet. She makes tapestry for
herself. Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates when he sits
among the elders of the land. She makes linen
garments and sells them and supplies sashes for
the merchants. Strength and honor are her clothing.
She shall rejoice in time to come. She opens
her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the
law of kindness. She watches over the ways of
her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed, her
husband also, and he praises her. Many daughters
have done well, but you excel them all. Charm
is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman
who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give
her the fruit of her hands and let her own works
Praise her in the gates. Do you know that Hebrew
men memorize this? And at Shabbat, they will
quote it to the wife, to the mother. So men,
get busy. Maybe you could write an updated version
to say to your wife. Darren, are you going to
do that? For the next men's breakfast, you can
all work on memorizing it together. Listen, we're
going to be looking, taking a bit of a broad
look at this woman. I'm not wanting to get into
the weeds of everything that she does. The truth
is, is that this is a woman of ancient times,
and her context is that Of her household. And
the household was not just your typical household.
But that was the means of provision. Agriculture.
Merchandise. This was a woman that was a business
woman. She looked after her household. But she
was a business woman. She strengthened her arms.
She was a wise woman. And for centuries. This
passage has been used to confine women to look
a certain way and to be a certain way. This is
the context for this woman. What is your context
today? Many of our moms, I think we have very
few, we have just a couple of maybe stay -at
-home moms. For the most part, our households
today, though, are dual working. There's not
a stay -at -home parent for the most part. And
so our context today for what a woman is doing
is very different from the context of this ancient
Hebrew woman. And so this passage isn't necessarily
about what she's giving herself to. So if you're
saying, well, I can't do all of that, that's
okay. You don't have to do all of that. You don't
have to go out and buy a spindle and start weaving
clothes for your family, unless you want to,
and then have at it. But for so long, women have
felt like it's confined them in their home, it's
confined their voice. And the truth is, is that
our homes don't look like this anymore. They're
not centers for agriculture and trade. It looks
different today. And so today what I want to
do is to, first of all, as we shift into second
gear, I want us to redeem the Proverbs 31 woman.
I want to redeem her name because if truth be
told, many of us hear Proverbs 31 woman and go,
I'm just being honest of what I hear women when
they come to me. This is the first verse in verse
10. Who can find a virtuous wife? Who can find
a noble wife? Do you know what this word noble
really means? What this word virtuous really
means? It's not this meek picture that we get
in our head. The truth is that whether your version
is reading virtuous, excellent, or noble, they
all mean the same thing. They mean capable. They
mean brave. They mean power. It means victory.
It means a valiant soldier. It is specifically
referring to military strength. That is what
noble means. That, I would say, is not a meek
woman. This is a woman of strength, of power.
In fact, in a couple of other places in this
passage, we see the same military connotations.
In verse 11, where it says that the husband lacks
nothing of value, that value that is referring
to is that of spoils. The spoils of warfare are
what the man has because of the woman and her
valiant strength and power. In verse 15, when
it says that she's providing food, it is talking
about food of prey. That word prey is in there.
That is that hunter. I know we got some women
in here that hunt. How many of you have taken
down some animals in here? Ladies? Yeah, Kristen
back there. I see your hand. Fish? Hey. I've
caught myself a fish. I don't know if it's in
the same manner of shooting a gun. It is? That's
only because you haven't hunted. You're saying,
yes, it is. Somebody take him out to hunt. He's
got to learn how to hunt so he can go on a loan
and win us $100 ,000. $500 ,000? Somebody take
that man out. Teach him how to hunt. Because
I've told him, don't come back until you have
the money. Verse 17 talks about girding herself
with strength. Do you know what girding is? Girding
is when a soldier, because you know they used
to wear longer clothing, and they would take
it and tie up their outfit and gird it so they
would have freedom of movement to fight. And
here we see this woman girding herself as a soldier
girds himself for movement in battle. All throughout
this passage, what we see is a woman of strength,
of power, that is fighting for her household,
that is fighting for her family. And can I say,
ladies, that we have an enemy, that he is after
your family. He is after to steal, kill, and
destroy your family. He's after your marriage.
He wants to steal, kill, and destroy your marriage.
And he will not play fair. It requires a woman
of strength. It requires a noble woman of military
might and power to say, no, not here. No, not
here. Not here. I draw a line in the sand, so
to speak. A woman of military strength, power,
victory, and bravery. I've sat across so many
women that would never even consider themselves
in that manner. And left in ourselves, maybe
not. But what did we learn last week? What is
in the sanctuary of his presence? Strength and
bravery, right? Strength and bravery. And so
what we're looking at today is a heroic poem.
What do we see all throughout? In fact, Darren
just read it out of... Moses. Miriam was singing.
It was a song of heroism of what God had done.
And so many times in battles of Israel, when
there was victory, what did they do? They began
to write poems and write songs of the great victory.
And so this is a poem. It is a heroic poem of
victory and might of women. It is a heroic poem
of how God regards the work of women. This is
the inspired word of God. This is how he views
women. Strength and power and bravery and might.
Some of us need to view ourselves the way God
has intended. And so more than portraying here
a to -do list for women, and you know me, I love
a good to -do list. Darren loves it when I give
him to -do lists. Usually he says, I love you.
I know when he says that, I'm like, mm -hmm.
More than portraying a to -do list of women.
This passage is revealing wisdom in action. Wisdom
in action. If we are just trying to copy this
woman's to -do list, most of us would never measure
up. You may be a great Martha Stewart, but to
be honest, Martha Stewart's got a great team
of people. But she pays a lot of money. Most
of us cannot measure up. to the to -do list of
the Proverbs 31 woman. What we need to get today
is the spirit and the motivation that drives
this woman. What drives you? There's a couple
of women in the Old Testament I was thinking
of that are like -mannered to the Proverbs 31
woman in this way. One is Ruth. In fact, the
word for noble woman in Proverbs 31 is used one
other time with a woman, and it was Ruth. And
you remember the story of Ruth, right? That she
married Naomi's sons. They died. And Naomi's
moving back home. And Ruth says, your people
are my people. I'm going to go where you go.
And she ends up gleaning in the field because
of their poverty, gleaning in the field to provide
for them. And because of how she treats her mother
-in -law, Boaz, the owner, he says to her, when
we find out that they are related, so he's the
kinsman redeemer, he can marry Ruth. And so when
Ruth approaches, his response to her is this.
My daughter, don't be afraid. I will do what
you ask. I will be your kinsman redeemer. All
the people of my town know that you are a woman
of noble character. Ruth carried the same spirit
of the Proverbs 31 woman. Listen, it was hard
work gleaning. This is a woman of strength, of
bravery. It could be dangerous work. In fact,
Boaz had extended his covering, his protection
over Ruth in the fields and said, make sure no
harm comes to her. It could be a dangerous work.
But Ruth carried a noble character. She rose
up with that brave and courageous spirit to take
care of her mother -in -law. I think of Deborah,
a prophetess that rose to become a judge of Israel,
the only woman judge that we read about in Israel.
She would sit under a palm tree, and all of Israel
would come to her for judgment. And when it came
time, because for 20 years they had been oppressed
by a wicked king, and when it came time to go
to battle, she told the head of the army, hey,
God says it's time to go and fight. And he's
like, yeah, I'm not. I'm not going, Deborah,
unless you go with me. And so Deborah had to
go with him as he led them in victory. And then
interestingly, in that account, it was another
woman jail that... dealt the final death blow
to the wicked king. Deborah carried the same
spirit of the Proverbs 31 woman. She was a woman
of courage, of valor, power, bravery, to fight
the battle of Israel, the enemy of Israel. And
no less can we do for our families, for our households.
As we move into third gear here today, I want
us, because here's why interpretation is so important
of the Bible. You can't just take a verse and
be like, oh, that's cool, and I want it to look
like this and believe this. So I think that's
what I'll believe about that verse. No, we got
to look at it in light of other things, right?
And one of that, those things is the... book
that you find it in. And so when we look at the
book of Proverbs overall, we see a couple of
interesting things. And one is that you cannot
read Proverbs 31 and not see the parallelism,
the correlation to Lady Wisdom of Proverbs chapter
8. And so for a few moments here in third gear,
I want us to look at the Proverbs 31 woman and
how she correlates with the Proverbs 8 woman.
Because I think it's going to help us in understanding
what drives and motivates us and what we're doing.
I'm going to read just a few verses of Proverbs
8, and then we're just going to do a comparison.
But it's talking about Lady Wisdom and who Lady
Wisdom is. She was not a god or goddess at all,
but she was there at the beginning of creation.
It says, the Lord brought me forth as the first
of his works before his deeds of old. I was formed
long ago at the very beginning when the world
came to be. I was constantly at his side. I was
filled with delight day after day, rejoicing
always in his presence, in his whole world, and
delighting in mankind. Now then, my children,
listen to me. Blessed are those who keep my ways
the ways of wisdom. Listen to my instruction
and be wise. Do not disregard it. Blessed are
those who listen to me, watching daily at my
doors, waiting at my doorway. For those who find
me find life and receive favor from the Lord.
But those who fail to find me harm themselves.
All who hate me love death. This is Lady Wisdom
of Proverbs 8. That's a portion of her description.
So she was there at the very beginning of the
creation. Now, I'm going to quickly, we're not
going to read the chapter for the sake of time,
but here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to
give you a list of traits that we see both in
Lady Wisdom and in our noble woman of Proverbs
31. She fears the Lord. In Proverbs 8, fears
the Lord, hating evil, pride, and arrogance.
31 is described as a woman who fears the Lord.
The trait of instruction and wisdom. Lady Wisdom
speaks what is noble, true, and right, and the
valiant woman of Proverbs 31 opens her mouth
with wisdom. To be treasured over jewels. Lady
Wisdom is incomparably superior to jewels, and
our noble woman is more precious than jewels,
given her rarity. The trait receives honor and
praise. Lady Wisdom possesses honor and our noble
woman is praised for her surpassing works. Possesses
strength. Lady Wisdom has strength and insight.
The noble woman clothes herself with strength.
Is industrious and active. Lady Wisdom is described
as a master workman. Our noble woman diligently
provides for others. Influences for the sake
of others. Proverbs 8, by her kings reign justly.
Noble woman cares for others and meets the needs
of the poor. And finally, enriches those who
find her. Lady Wisdom is accompanied by riches
and brings a blessing and favor. Our noble woman
does good all her days, ensures no lack of gain
and brings honor. Do you see how similar Lady
Wisdom and the Proverbs 31 woman are? There's
a correlation between the two. And it is important
that we get this. Because the truth is that Lady
Wisdom represents the entirety of creation. She
is a principle that undergirds entire creation.
She's a pillar that upholds it all. She was there
at creation as a companion to the creator. I
mean, just think about that for a while. To be
at the very beginning of creation, this wisdom
of the ancient of days. And then we have the
Proverbs 31 woman. And she doesn't represent
all of creation. But she represents her work.
She represents her limited local context. She
represents her local community. And her portrayal
is very descriptive of a woman's ordinary life.
Like Lady Wisdom, she seems perfect, doesn't
she? The perfect woman, the high standard. And
so it's no wonder that so many women feel exhausted
when they're told they have to be like her. Here's
what it sums up. As the worthy woman of Proverbs
31 nobly is living out her ordinary life, taking
kids to soccer, cooking meal after meal after
meal after meal after meal after meal after meal
after meal. Laundry after laundry after laundry
after laundry after laundry. You can fill in
the blank of your ordinary day. The beautiful
thing of this is that she mirrors the deep and
ancient wisdom that was there from the beginning
of time. You're not just an ordinary woman doing
the ordinary, ordinary, ordinary, ordinary. You're
a woman that is mirroring the ancient wisdom.
The very foundation, your roots, your life is
rooted in the creation narrative. The wisdom
that you are invited into is rooted at creation.
And your ordinary life is just really not that
ordinary. It's rooted in the wisdom. Of creation.
That should elevate your ordinary. That should
change how you do the ordinary. And I would like
to say I always feel victorious. And I feel the
power of the ancient one in my laundry. My family
would tell you that I probably don't. But to
know as I'm growing in the fullness of God. That
I am mirroring this ancient wisdom, lady wisdom.
That's what Proverbs 31 is about. It's not about
her to -do list. It's the fact that she mirrors
lady wisdom. Unfortunately, Proverbs 31 has functioned
as a law, as a list of demands and to -dos. And
completely, it's wanted to put women into a particular
mold. That if you are a godly woman, this is
what it has to look like. And then we wonder
why women are resistant. I don't want to be put
in a mold. Instead, it's an invitation. An invitation
to women to step out. To seek wisdom about your
particular gifts, about your particular calling,
about the particular plans and purposes that
God's put in your life. It's an invitation to
step out and seek wisdom in these gifts and callings
and purposes and labor for the Lord. This should
give us hope. I love Abigail as one of my favorite
women of the Bible. I love Abigail. She was married
to such a foolish, foolish man. Such a foolish
man. And Abigail was a woman, it says, of good
understanding. And that's the same word they're
used for noble and wisdom. And when her husband
failed to cover and protect the family, that
nobleness of Abigail rose up and went out to
this anointed King David, this mighty soldier
who was about to wipe out her house. And she's
like, no, wait, no, wait. Here, here are the
provisions you need. Don't do it, David. Don't
shed blood, David. You're the king. Don't shed
blood. She was not a timid woman hiding out behind
her foolish husband. She stepped up with power
and bravery and might in a noble manner, and
she saved her household. And when her husband
died in his foolishness, she became the wife
of King David. I love Abigail because it's in
Abigail's ordinary life that she does extraordinary
things. And so as we are moving into fourth gear,
we're getting closer. I want to ask the question
to you, what drives you? What drives you? Our
text, a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be
praised. To fear the Lord is to honor the Lord,
is to revere the Lord. It is to worship the Lord.
And so if what is driving you is to look like
the Proverbs 31 woman, listen, that's not what
she got praised for, her list of dues. What she
got praised for was fearing the Lord, was her
worship of the Lord. You will never measure up.
to her task list. You will never measure up.
But that's okay because what we're called to
do is to fear the Lord. What we're called to
be as women is to worship the Lord. To worship
the Lord with your kids and talk with your kids
on the way to soccer. To worship the Lord and
talk with your kids as you're cooking dinner.
To worship the Lord and talk with your family
about his goodness while you're watching movies.
And they roll their eyes at you because you can
once again make spiritual application of the
storyline. Just be quiet and watch the movie.
This woman was not praised because of all she
had accomplished. She was praised because she
feared the Lord, because she worshiped the Lord.
In all of her doing, what drove her was worshiping
the Lord. What drives you? What drives you? All
throughout Proverbs, we see this theme. And at
the very beginning in chapter 1, it says, the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
It says in chapter 9, the fear of the Lord is
the beginning of wisdom. If what is driving you
is worship, is honoring the Lord in all that
you do, here's what you do. You open up your
life to the door of wisdom. When you open the
door to wisdom, then you will experience the
fruit of wisdom. The truth is, is that her list
of to -dos is the fruit of her fear of the Lord.
And we get so focused on copying her fruit. Listen,
you're an apple tree, and you're trying to copy
an orange tree. You've got to be fearing the
Lord, and then you just want to flourish as an
apple tree. You've got apples coming all out
of the place. You've got apples to give away.
generosity. You got apples to plant here and
here and here. And wherever you plant your apples,
they're going to grow up and they're going to
bear fruit and they're going to succeed. Why?
Because you quit trying to be like the orange
tree. You invited the wisdom that comes from
the fear of the Lord. And it doesn't matter what
you do and how you look like the person on Facebook
you keep stalking. Listen. You're created in
the image of God to be you. And as you are you
and you worship God being you, you will see the
fruit of Proverbs 31. And so we know what the
fruit of wisdom looked like for Proverbs 31 woman.
My question today for us is what would wisdom
look like? in your life today, if you were to
revere God in everything, if you were to worship
God in everything, what would wisdom look like
in your life? If you were to worship God in all
that you do, what would wisdom look like in your
life? What would this Hebrew poem be describing
your life? This morning, the team is going to
come. And as they're coming, I want to just finish
this off in fifth gear for you to cruise on out
of here. At the beginning of the book of Proverbs,
woman wisdom sounds out the invitation to the
simple man to enter her house. Come and enter
my house, she calls out. There's an invitation,
and I love that invitation because it's not wisdom
calling for all the super smart people to come
into her house. It's for the simple. It's for
the people that don't have much wisdom and knowledge
saying, come in. Lady Wisdom is calling you in
and wants to bestow wisdom to you. By the end
of Proverbs. What we have is what the picture
looks like when that simple man chooses to enter
into wisdom. Metaphorically, what we have is
taking wisdom on as the wife. God calls us to
choose wisdom to marry her. To become one with
wisdom. And that begins... With living life driven
by worship. With living life driven by serving
our God. And if there's one thing that I want
my kids to see in my life, whether they agree
with me or not, if they can say she's worshipped,
she's been consistent in everything, in worshipping
God, in fearing God, that's all I need. I know
I've failed in many areas as a mom, as a wife.
But if they can at least say, well, she tried
her best worshiping and fearing the Lord, then
we've accomplished our goal. So what drives us?
Today, ladies, I want us to shake off any feelings
of failure. Because I know what it is as a mom.
How many of you older ones wish, man, if I knew
now what I did when I was eight, I wish I could
go back and reparent again. Wouldn't that be
great? Knowing what we know now, but we can't.
But time and time again, I see women carrying
shame and regret. Listen, it's time to let that
stuff go. That's part of what the enemy uses
to steal, kill, and destroy. And then today,
let's say, you know what? I'm going to rise up
as a noble woman. I'm going to rise up in bravery.
I'm going to rise up in power and strength and
might as a noble woman. Because the truth is,
is I don't care how old your kids are. I don't
care if they're other people's kids. When Darren
said, how many of you are believing for a miracle?
I believe every one of us should have a hand
raised. I believe there are people that we're
believing and fighting for. I believe there are
situations that we are believing and fighting
for. And it requires us to rise up in nobleness.
It requires us to rise up, not in our own strength
and might, but in the power and the might and
the strength of the Lord, worshiping through
it, serving him through it. not backing down,
not when it gets tough, when it gets hard, when
you're exhausted, to not back down, but to rise
up. to rise up in nobleness and say i'm going
to worship even more i'm going to fear god even
more i'm going to revere god even more because
what i'm fighting for is worth fighting for my
households i'm fighting for my children my great
grandchildren my great great grandchildren i'm
fighting for it is not a one and done thing we're
believing for legacies we are fighting for legacies
Of this world. Why? Because we are women of God.
Because we are noble women of God who's called
us to something beyond ourselves. And he has
put inside of you the ability to tap in to the
ancient days, the ancient wisdom, and to rise
up in a way you've never thought you could. You
never thought you could. Listen, it's time to
do that. It's time to do that. There's no waiting
for something magical to happen. There's not
waiting for... to get a little easier and then
I will. It's when you are in the deepest pit.
It's when it feels like the bombs of the enemy
are just bombing you all around on every side.
That is when it is required for you to rise up
in nobleness. That's the time when it's time
for you to say, I will rise in the spirit of
the Proverbs 31 woman. And I'm going to, whatever
I do, I'm going to do it worshiping. I'm going
to do it serving. And I'm believing for the fruit
to be released. And so here's this morning what
I want us to do. In a moment, we're going to
go outside. Your kids can play. We've got gifts.
We've got Lotus drinks for you out under the
tent. But for the next five minutes here, I want
us to just whatever you feel like you are cannot
be your truth. I feel weak and I feel like I
have failed. cannot be your truth. It may be
your truth, but it can't be the truth you live
in. You've got to start saying, I'm living in
the truth of what God has said about me. And
God has given to me this lady wisdom. And I'm
going to stop making excuses. Well, God, it's
so hard. It is hard. But you have immeasurably
more. than what you could ask or believe available
to you. You have the courage and the bravery
available to you. And so this morning, I want
us to take our first step at being a woman of
valor. I want us to take our first step at being
a noble woman. Maybe you haven't felt that way.
Well, today is the day. And we're going to just
for a moment sing this song over our families.
We're going to sing it over our friends. We're
going to sing it over our city. And we're going
to rise up, not in our own style, our own abilities,
strength, and might, but we're going to rise
up by faith as God -fearing women, as worshiping
women. And we're going to say, as a noble woman,
as a brave woman, I'm going to release this into
the atmosphere of my household, of my city, of
my church. Amen? So will you stand with me this
morning and for the next five minutes or so,
let's just begin to do that. If you've got the
stuff, if you've been carrying the baggage, I
want you to let it go. Let it go. You can't keep
carrying that baggage and become the woman of
nobleness. You've got to let it go and look to
the one who empowers you, makes you strong.