I've been contemplating my life lately (watch out everyone), and got to thinking about how we can see so clearly how other people are doing the wrong things (especially to us!), and if they'd ever ask, we'd have so much excellent advice for them.
Yet when it comes to our own actions, we're often blind to what we're doing wrong, or make excuses to justify what we're doing. Why is that?
I like a good movie or tv show as much as anyone else, and one of the things that hooks me is a main character who is good. Not perfect... good. Someone who sometimes makes the wrong decision, but realizes quickly that they're on the wrong side and makes the necessary adjustment, no matter how painful.
I think the word "noble" describes these characters... they can be counted on to do the right thing. As I thought on the characteristics of a noble person, I had to think about myself, and how I don't always look or behave nobly.
Merriam-Webster defines noble this way:
possessing, characterized by, or arising from superiority of mind or character or of ideals or morals: lofty; a noble ambition
Well, that's a little bit of relief... being noble is completely out-of-the-ordinary, and if nothing else, I am completely ordinary (relatively speaking). Of course, that doesn't remove the responsibility for me to at least try to be noble.
Applying noble (which includes always being on the right side) to my life, then, should be an easy matter, right? Well not easy, but at least clear to see. When you apply the lens of being noble to your life, and actually think about what that means, it does become clearer which side you should be standing on.
For example, being a wife and mother of noble character looks a certain way, don't you think? Not necessarily exactly like the woman in Proverbs 31, but pretty close. If we updated it to today's language, what would that look like to you?
My life as a wife and mother could definitely use some tweaking to look noble, but even if you're not a wife or mother, what does noble look like to a single woman, a sister, a father, a son? Each of us has our own set of criteria, but I think we all know deep in our hearts which side is the right side, no matter the situation.
So in this journey called life, I'm going to adjust my lenses and peek into my dark corners, trying to find my noble self and release her. I know she's in there somewhere....
(Proverbs 31:10-31)
