Carly Hathaway is an experienced educator who has taught both kindergarten and first grade students. In addition to her professional role, she is a proud wife and mama to two young children, Willow and Barrett. Carly resides in Virginia Beach where she actively serves on the worship team and co-leads a Bible study for young moms at her local church. She is the author of Teach Like a Mama, a blog where she shares her passion for integrating the heart of teaching with the everyday joys and challenges of motherhood.
Working mom. Stay-at-home mom. Crunchy mom. Scrunchy mom. Boss. Homemaker. Homesteader. The list goes on.
We live in a world of labels-but is that how God defines a mom, or any woman for that matter?
Maybe you’ve read about the Proverbs 31 woman or heard others talk about, “said woman.” I had always viewed this woman to be a godly woman who fears the Lord, one that I should strive to be. It wasn’t until recently that I took a deep-dive into this passage and truly unpacked our God-defined role as women.
Reading through these verses reveal a character that is stronger than any label or title. Strength, dignity, and wisdom (v. 17, 25, 26) can be seen throughout this scripture and echo a life of faith.
As believers in Christ, our identity should be rooted in a relationship with our Savior rather than the world’s perception of us.
The woman described in Proverbs 31 is a provider (v. 15, 16, 21, 27), caretaker (v. 10, 11, 12, 28), leader in her community (v. 23), creator (v. 13, 18, 19, 24), and servant (v. 20).
She embodies all of these qualities with a sincere heart and complete trust in the Lord.
Despite the change of seasons, she is flexible. Despite what others think, she presses on. Despite the troubles of life, she consistently accepts the challenge to pursue God and embrace the calling He has placed on her life-to be a dedicated wife, mother, and servant of the Most-High.
While it is clear in this passage that our actions are a means of living out the faith-actions don’t tell the whole story.
What we do in this temporary life should be an outpouring of what Christ has done for us.
So, whether you are a working mom or stay-at home-mom, business owner or working the nightshift, remember that these are simply roles-not our identity.
According to Proverbs 31, our identity as a godly woman is rooted in character, faith, and fear of the Lord.
Labels may describe a season, but they were never meant to define our worth.
Beautiful mama, may you live all your days in pursuit of our King with a heart full of beauty.
“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”
Proverbs 31:30, ESV
