Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
1 Peter 3:3-4 KJV

A meek and quiet spirit-in the midst of nose wiping, diaper changing, house cleaning, laundry folding, boo-boo kissing, and making dinner? Is it possible?

I believe that it is, but we have to seek to cultivate it. Unfortunately, It won’t just happen because we are a Christian woman.

In my home, I have what I call “meek and quiet spirit robbers”. These are things which steal my joy, leave me frustrated, or cause me stress. It can be something simple as missing socks or something bigger such as training my children. Whatever it is, big or small this spirit robber gets in the way of me having that gentle and quiet spirit that God calls me to have.

I have learned that identifying these spirit robbers and then finding solutions to them has gone a long way to helping me maintain a gentle and quiet spirit in my home.

Here is an example of a spirit robber: my son would be sent to his room in the morning after breakfast to do his chores, get dressed, brush his teeth etc. More often than not, time would carry on and he would get sidetracked and his chores would only be half done. I would get frustrated with him, and he would get upset for being scolded. It was not a pleasant start to our days. Once I realized that this was a spirit robber, I decided to come up with a solution. We now have a timer that we set, a chore chart to follow, and clear consequences if the chores on not done on time and correctly. This may not mean that my son always gets his chores done on time, but having a system in place makes dealing with the problem easy, leaving my gentle and quiet spirit in tact.

Do you have spirit robbers in your home? I am sure most of us to do. Here are a few examples of other things that rob my spirit:

• Clutter
• Disorganization
• Disobedience
• My Attitude
• Lack of Sleep
• Being Overscheduled

Spirit robbers can be many things, but thankfully we can attack most of them put them in their place and have our peace back. Grab a notebook and let’s attack yours:

Identify It
Is there something that constantly unravels you, makes you tense, upset or lose your patience? Whatever these things are, big or small, whenever your spirit is being robbed, start writing down what caused it. It doesn’t matter if it is something silly even. If it is stealing your joy, it needs to be identified.

Plan A Solution
Choose one of the items you wrote down, and on a blank sheet of paper begin to think of solutions. Pray and ask the Lord to help you find a way to fix it. Seek the input of your husband. Mine often gives me great advice that I never would have thought of if he hadn’t mentioned it.

Create A System
Successful businesses have lots of systems in place that keep them running smoothly. Why not adopt that into your home? Once you identify and have a plan, write out a system that can be put in place and what you need to do to implement it. I keep my new system readily visible until it becomes second nature to me. Put it on your fridge, in your home management binder, or wherever you can see it often to remind you.

Implement Your System
If it involves your children, share your new system with them. If it involves purchasing something that you need, put aside a little money in your budget to get it. If its your own attitude that needs adjusting search up some Scriptures or locate some reading materials to help you. Then be diligent about implementing this system, tweaking it as you need to, until you have it just right.

Choose What’s Next
After you have a good system in place for one spirit robber, continue to do this exercise until you have them tackled. Just do one at a time, and over time, you will find that maintaining a meek and quiet spirit is much easier when you aren’t being robbed of it!

We can cultivate a meek and quiet spirit by taming those things that are robbing us of it. It may take a little bit of work, lots of prayer, and some time but the rewards are great. Remember that God calls the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit great worth in His sight. That makes it a worthy pursuit, wouldn’t you agree?

Stephanie is saved by faith, forgiven by grace and a work in progress mother, wife, homemaker, and daughter of the King. When she isn’t busy managing her home, loving her husband, training her children, and seeking the Lord, she shares what she is learning about the important and wonderful calling that woman have on their lives. You can visit her blog at www.ahighandnoblecalling.com to find encouragement, practical advice and inspiration to pursue your highest calling.