“She girds herself with strength, and strengthens her arms” (Proverbs 31:17 NKJV).

“Gird” – a Middle English word rarely used in modern day which literally means “to encircle as with a belt.”  In the King James Version of the Bible, Proverbs 31:17 is expressed, “She girdeth her loins…” In every other Biblical use of the phrase “girding the loins” is used in reference to a man. In each reference, however, including our Proverbs 31 woman, the action of girding oneself has to do with preparing for action and mustering one’s resources (strengths).

As Christian women it is sometimes a struggle to display an attractive kind of strength.

By “attractive strength,” I simply mean qualities that draw people in rather than pushing them away.

Paula Rinehart writes in Strong Women Soft Hearts, “Whatever Christian stereotypes we may have built of female strength as pink and passive and empty-headed do not square with Scripture.” And as we consider our meditation verse in the context of its surrounding verses (10 – 31), we get a real sense of the power of feminine strength. The Proverb paints a picture of a woman who not only understands who she is but whose she is and provides us a study in the symmetry of softness and strength.

~excerpted from 21 Meditations & Motivations to Get You Moving (my fitness/faith devos)