Verse 8

I guess it's time to get back to my study of Proverbs 31. Verse 8 says:

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute." (NIV)

This verse holds a lot of meaning for me more so lately than it did in the past. I'm not a real political person, but I do believe that Christians have the right AND the responsibility to stand up for those who "cannot speak for themselves." For such a long time we've sort of held on to the idea that we are to keep out of the political arena because we don't want to mix church with state.

Because of this fear of getting too close to the world, per se, we've allowed the downtrodden to become more oppressed than ever before. I think it's a real trajedy.

But even more than political implications, I think there's a personal challenge for every Proverbs 31 woman to consider those who cannot speak up for themselves within our own little circles of friends and family.

I have a niece whom I'm planning to write a long letter to this week, probably today. Some things happened to her when she was a small child that shouldn't have happened and nobody, including her own mother, stood up for her. She was too young to speak for herself. At the time, I tried to get involved, tried to get the mother to DO SOMETHING! She didn't, and in fact, I was the bad guy in the whole situation, shunned from the family for a few years because of my insistence that these things CANNOT happen.

Now that this girl is grown I want her to know that I tried everything I could to defend her and speak up for her. I want her to know that she's important to me and to God.

There are too many things happening to innocent children and special needs people that ought never to happen. If we don't speak up for them, who will?