Steel Magnolias

Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD will be praised. —Proverbs 31:30

For several years I lived part-time in Little Rock, Arkansas. One of my favorite spring- time sights in the South was the magnificent magnolia trees with their large, glossy leaves and huge white blossoms.

This fragrant flower is often used in wedding bouquets to represent the purity and dignity of the bride. This is particularly the case in the South, where “Steel Magnolia” is used as a popular phrase to describe the delicate yet strong nature of Southern women.

That phrase reflects something of the essence of true womanhood. The image melds beauty with perseverance, softness with backbone, delicacy with durability, sweetness with stamina, and gentleness with gumption.

This “softness” involves a woman having a sweet, amenable spirit—one that joyfully responds and defers to others while displaying a steadfast determination to be receptive to the right influences. A heart that is resolute to respond to God first and foremost puts steel into the magnolia.

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True Woman 101: Divine Design, An Eight-Week Study on Biblical Womanhood ©2012 Mary A. Kassian and Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Scripture taken from The CSB