Qualities of Outstanding Women: How to Become a Woman of Excellence

Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Why God Made The Woman

Far Above Rubies The Proverbs 31 Woman

Out Of Eden Eve

The Woman Of Covenant Sarah

Until She Arose Deborah

The Woman Of Constancy Ruth

And God Remembered Hannah

The Power Of Expectation

Qualities Of Outstanding Women

Helpful Tips

The Fruit Of The Spirit

The Fruit Of Love

The Fruit Of Joy

The Fruit Of Peace

The Fruit Of Patience

The Fruit Of Kindness

The Fruit Of Goodness

The Fruit Of Faithfulness

The Fruit Of Gentleness

The Fruit Of Self-Control

Hinderances To Excellence

Grace Is Enough

Dedication

I dedicate this book to:

The Holy Spirit—my greatest Teacher and Inspiration, My husband and best friend Uche—the love of my life,

And

Our four precious children—Blossom, Excel, Favor & Noble

Acknowledgements

To Jesus belongs all the glory for the great things He has done. Father, I submit to Your Lordship and vow to continue to give You all the credit as you use me to bless the world.

It is my pleasure to express my unreserved gratitude to all my friends and family. Words are not enough to convey my appreciation for all you have done to assist me get to where I am today. I love you all.

What a joy to serve as a co—pastor in Joyful Assembly London—the place where true love abides. Let me use this opportunity to say a big thank you to all our members for your faithfulness. And to Uncle Martin and Auntie Benedicta, you have a special place in my heart. Your acts of kindness will never be forgotten. All I can say to both of you is thank you, thank you, thank you . . .

A million thanks to Johannes and Eva for your genuine and uncommon love for my husband and me. I am a firm believer that God is the One who brings people together. What can I say? There is a sure reward for you and your expectations will not be cut off.

From time to time as I reflect on all that pertain to my life, I cannot but give God praise for my husband Uche. Honey, I have watched your life very closely through the years. You are an inspiration indeed. I am privileged to be called your wife. Thanks for all your support, love and encouragement. I love you with all my heart.

And to our wonderful children—Blossom, Excel, Favor and Noble, you will ever remain very precious to mum. I love you to bits.

Introduction

Success means different things to different people. Success is not meant for just a select few. It cuts across race, age and gender. Everyone is entitled to it provided the person is willing and poised to accurately apply the necessary principles. Success is all about maximizing potential. And maximizing your potential will require stepping out of your comfort zone. It will involve consciously stretching yourself beyond your limits. It will entail challenging yourself to start taking some bold and difficult but valuable steps. Your decision to discover and maximize your God-given potential will decide your destiny.

How do we evaluate success? Is it determined by affluence? Is it assessed by fame? Success is not a function of fortune or fame. It is much more than a household name. The value of true success is based on a life well spent on planet earth. Success is a step by step progress towards achieving a God-given goal. It means being in the centre of God’s will for your life. Success involves doing exactly what you were wired to do here on earth.

Keys to Success

•  DiscoveryofyourGod-givenassignmentonearth

•  Focus—Havemasteryoverdistractions

•  Attentiontodetails—Beveryobservantandvigilant

•  Timemanagement—Makeyourtimecount

•  Diligence—Havemasteryoverlaziness,overcomeprocrastination,workhard,aimforexcellence

•  ClosewalkwiththeHolySpirit

•  Positivethinking

•  Seedsowing

•  Rightcompany

•  FavourwithGod

•  Favourwithmen

•  Confidenceinyourself

The successful do not lack initiative. They are resourceful and imaginative. The successful do not think small—they think out of the box. They are able to see beyond their immediate surroundings or circumstances. They possess the grace to rise above their limitations. The successful are large at heart. They are ready and quick to embrace new things that will effect positive changes.

Understand that you do not have to be like the other person in order to stand out in life. There is greatness in you which must be discovered and tapped into. Your success in the world we live in is linked to your uniqueness. The uniqueness of your gift and talent will make you stand out in a room that is filled with all kinds of highly gifted and talented people. No one on earth can beat you at being you. Find out what makes you uniquely unique, therein lies your mantle for greatness.

It is a well understood fact that success is a wonderful thing, however there is still room for more. There is something known as outstanding success. Outstanding success stands for all-round success. This is when all the areas of your life are thriving and blossoming simultaneously. As you are developing, advancing and expanding, every aspect of your life (career, family, spiritual life, social life, finance, health etc) ought to be developing, advancing and expanding also.

Your pursuit of excellence will position you for outstanding success. Success in simple terms is the accomplishment of an aim, objective or a given task. This is demonstrated when a thing or a person turns out well. But excellence represents superiority. It is the state of excelling, surpassing merit or quality. It means to be pre-eminent or the most outstanding. Make it your ultimate goal to excel in all you do.

Diligence is a vital technique in achieving some reasonable measure of success but outstanding success is not necessarily about hard-work. There is such a thing as success without stress or struggle. The mistake we make sometimes is that we confuse activity with productivity. How much you do does not necessarily determine how much you achieve. The wisest King that ever lived summarized all the keys to outstanding success in one sentence: Wisdom is the principal thing.

Wisdom is your ability to do the right thing at the right time in order to get the right result. Wisdom or the lack of it is determined by the regular choices or decisions we make. Lack of wisdom always keeps people on the weary side of the spectrum. Therefore, outstanding success in your life’s pursuits will make a high demand on wisdom. Understand that divine wisdom will require spiritual maturity. God has an assignment for all of us we need to mature in order to skilfully carry out our individual assignments.

So dig deep down in the inside of you and reach for that which makes you tick. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of excellence. You need to give Him the permission to release all the treasures that your heavenly Father has deposited in you.

Is it not rewarding to know that your success is not just for you alone? Your success will improve the lives of many around you. Your success will add meaning to your generation. Your success will put a smile on many faces on planet earth. But most importantly, your outstanding success as a woman in this day and age will bring glory to the Most High God. That’s why I wrote this book. Be blessed.

Linda Nweke

WHY GOD MADE THE WOMAN

"The work of creation in its totality is amazing.

But the woman is nothing short of a sign and a wonder. God took time and carefully put everything else in place in readiness for the arrival of the woman."

For everything God created there is a reason. Everything in existence was created to fulfil a purpose. We were all created to solve one problem or another. In the same vein, God has a reason for making the woman.

Ever before creation began the woman was already in the mind of God.

Right from the outset the woman has always been there. Ever before creation began the woman was already in the mind of God. The thought to create the woman did not arise simply because the man was found to be lonely in the Garden of Eden. God has some specific duties for which He created the woman to carry out on planet earth.

It is a great privilege to be a woman. It is a thing of Joy to be a woman. When we grasp the significance of womanhood our lives will be totally transformed. We will begin to think and act differently.

The work of creation in its totality is amazing. But the woman is nothing short of a sign and a wonder. God took time and carefully put everything else in place in readiness for the arrival of the woman. The making of the woman was the climax of God’s creative activity. I am convinced that there is a soft spot in the heart of God for the woman He made. Perhaps, this explains why women occupy a significant place in the centre of God’s will here on earth.

THE PURPOSE OF GOD FOR CREATING THE WOMAN

FOR FELLOWSHIP

In certain aspects, the purpose of God for making the woman does not differ from that of the man. We were all created to give God pleasure. We were fashioned to have fellowship with God. This is probably the most important reason why God made us.

TO DOMINATE

Also, God made both the man and the woman each with the purpose to dominate here on earth. Let’s see what the word of God has to say about this:

Then God said, Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

Gen 1:26

It is very important to always bear in mind that in the beginning God made them male and female. It was on this basis that the job description was given.

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it: have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

Genesis 1:27-28

We were created to dominate. We were made to take charge. But it all started with THE BLESSING. After making the man and the woman, God pronounced a word of blessing over them. In fact, the entire work of creation would have been incomplete without the blessing. Be fruitful and multiply… was a word of blessing and also a job description. It is the blessing that anoints or empowers you to become productive. In other words, God gave Adam and Eve some assignments and also endowed them with the power or ability (the blessing) they needed to carry out these assignments.

Understand that there is a sequence here: You cannot have dominion until you have subdued, you cannot subdue until you have multiplied, you cannot multiply until you have become fruitful, and you cannot be fruitful until you understand, believe and embrace the fact that you have the blessing. As a born again child of God you are already blessed (See Gen 1:28; Exodus 23:30; Deut 28).

SOME SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

A HELPER

In the marriage setting, the woman is designed to be a helper to her husband. God made her the suitable helper (one just right) for her husband. In other words, there is no one else or nothing else that can take her place. Adam was put in charge of all the different animals God created. In fact, Adams first act of dominion over creation was demonstrated as he named the animals. But even with a huge Garden teeming with wildlife all to himself, Adam was still found to be very lonely. It then follows that wives and mothers are truly irreplaceable. This role of the wife as a helper requires sacrifice. It involves a great level of self-denial. The woman relinquishes her father’s house and name, and willingly consents to let go of her entire life in pursuit of love. That’s very deep in my opinion. (You will read more about Eve as the book progresses).

Wives and mothers are truly irreplaceable.

THE ABILITY TO INCUBATE

Physically, the woman has the ability to get pregnant with the seed and bring forth a child. The function of the womb is to develop, carry and protect the unborn child. Likewise, in the spirit realm, the woman has the capacity to get pregnant with a dream or a vision and carry it through to accomplishment. There is this resilient and tenacious spirit God has endowed women with. It is that thing in us that would not just quit no matter what.

THE ABILITY TO MULTIPLY AND PRODUCE

Women have been anointed with the grace to multiply and produce a harvest. Everything within us gravitates towards increase and multiplication. Whatever we are given we have the ability to make it bigger and better. Give a woman a small amount of money, she knows how to manage it well and feed the family. Give a woman a simple house, she will clean it up, plant flowers, decorate it and turn it into a home. When a man loves a woman, she will receive his love, cherish it and reciprocate with true affection and adoration. We have what it takes to multiply and produce. Ask me about the woman who is unproductive and I will point you to a woman whose focus is misguided.

Ask me about the woman who is unproductive and I will point you to the woman whose focus is misguided.

THE ABILITY TO NURTURE

Women are naturally created to nurture. Nurturing deals with the process of nourishing, bringing up or training. That is what women do when they nurse their babies. Women have the grace to forbear long enough until the situation changes for the better. As long as a woman loves you, she is prepared to wait forever. Women have been specially anointed to bring live into a dead situation. No one else will be ready to wait, persevere, fight and stick with a man to the end like a loving, faithful wife. No one else will be willing to make your friends her friends and your enemies her enemies but the woman that God has given to you as a life partner. No one believes in you like your mother. No one else will patiently wait and work with you and bring out the best in you like your mother. This is a divine enablement that every woman needs to discover, treasure and utilize. Understand that gifts are not given in full bloom. They are developed through use. Once you begin to use this awesome gift of God in you, your capacity will increase by the day.

Women are emotional by nature. To be emotional means to be easily affected by or readily displaying a strong mental or instinctive feeling such as love or fear. We tend to take things to heart more easily than men. This explains why women respond quicker to the things of God than men do. Have you observed that more women go to church? Women are more responsive to the move of the Holy Spirit. Being emotional is a positive thing because it is indicative of tenderness. However, it can also be negative. People who easily give in to their emotions tend to be touchy and very sensitive. We all know that people who are very sensitive over-react to situations and often make poor choices. This is the reason why balance is probably the most important virtue any human being can possess. Later on in the book you will read more on how you can channel your emotions properly as a woman so as to achieve positive results.

FAR ABOVE RUBIES

THE PROVERBS 31 WOMAN

"The expression ‘The virtuous woman’ speaks of excellence, moral worth, ability and nobility.

The virtuous woman is a rare breed.

The only thing that stands in comparison with her is wisdom. She is the ideal of wisdom in action."

Who can find a virtuous wife?

for her worth is far above rubies.

The heart of her husband safely trusts her;

so he will have no lack of gain.

She does him good and not evil

all the days of her life.

She seeks wool and flax,

and willingly works with her hands.

She is like the merchant ships,

she brings her food from afar.

She also rises while it is yet night,

and provides food for her household,

and a portion for her maidservants,

she considers a field and buys it;

from her profits she plants a vineyard,

she girds herself with strength,

and strengthens her arms.

She perceives that her merchandise is good,

and her lamp does not go out by night,

she