Dignified

Continuing in our series on Titus 2, we learn about another characteristic of godly older women. We read if you want to be an older woman who wants to speak into the lives of younger women, you first need to be dignified.

How does that settle with you? Does it make you shudder? Does it conjure up images of ladies wearing their hair in tight buns, with long noses and serious faces?

During my senior year of high school our class voted on class superlatives. Best looking, funniest, smartest, etc. Guess what I was chosen for? Yup. Most dignified. I'm not sure why. Was I really the best they could choose for this? Couldn't they have chosen me for something else, like "most likely to succeed"? I'm convinced they didn't fully understand the meaning of the term. My picture in the yearbook is back to back with the "most dignified" boy with our noses up in the air, acting all hoity-toity. Did my classmates think I was stuck up? I don't think so. At least I hope not!! I'm guessing that was just a pose they thought best captured the concept.

I was not dignified in much of my behavior back then. I am still embarrassed to think of the things I did, or thought were funny. I was a pretty typical teen and sadly some of my immaturity followed me into my early years of marriage. I can easily relate to the Apostle Paul when he said, "When I was a child I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child." (I Corinthians 13:11)

To be sober-minded has to do with our thought life. To be dignified has to do with our character. It has to do with carrying ourselves with a seriousness and deliberation that is consistent with our age and our calling.

Just as the President must conduct himself in a dignified manner that befits the office, so must older men and women in Christ. They have a reputation to uphold. Dignified men and women who are Christians know that life and faith is a serious business and their behavior and conversations should convey that.

That's not to say they do not have joy!! Part of the serious business of faith is to be seriously joy-filled!! There is no place for long faces in dignified women.

So, here's the question for the OWC (the Older Women Club) this week:

Are there ways in which you need to grow up a bit? Are you dignified in your speech, your humor, your mannerisms, your dress? If you want young women to listen to your message, these are things you must consider.

But remember, a dignified woman enjoys life, her God and her calling. A dignified woman even does cartwheels every now and then!