When you think of the word “princess” what comes to mind? Bratty? Spoiled? Arrogant and entitled?

Sometimes that’s what people think… but if you fall into that category, I’d love to challenge you to think differently. Think about real royalty. Maybe Princess Diana or Princess Kate? A real royal has responsibilities on her shoulders because of the life she either chose or was born into. And if you are found in Christ and have been added to His Church my sister, you are ROYAL. You are a Princess; called to be…
Noble. Selfless. Trusting. Humble. Kind. Respectful of her Prince.
This is a series we will tackle over the next few weeks based on the Princess Warrior lesson I tackled a while back.

A Princess is noble. What does that mean? Can one be royal and not noble? Absolutely. Is nobility an easy characteristic to gain? Perhaps for some. Is it impossible to achieve? Absolutely not.
A quick internet search landed me on this definition of Noble: Dignified, strong moral character, upright, righteous. Someone who does the right thing, in any situation. Of a higher status; to be admired; dignified.
A quick Biblical concordance search landed me in a few verses as well… First, Proverbs 8:1-21. Wisdom is speaking here and she says “hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right, for my mouth will utter truth.” (Prov. 8:6-7a)
Wisdom.
Righteousness.
Justice.
Honor.
Understanding.
Nobility.
Keeping these words in mind, go with me to Isaiah 32:1-8.  In these verses you see a contrast of noble (or righteous) verses foolish. God often speaks of the fool (some translations read “vile person” and I under NO circumstances, want to be labeled a fool in God’s eyes. Reading these verses, especially 5-8, I am reminded of Matthew 25:34-46.

³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’

Here, Jesus makes clear the duties of the righteous.  And you know what I found fascinating? They didn’t even REALIZE it! The RIGHTEOUS will ask, “when did we ___ ?” Because, friends, the righteous ones aren’t serving to be noticed. They aren’t seeking to encourage the poor and imprisoned in order to gain ANY earthly recognition or reward. THAT is what makes them righteous! They are fulfilling the needs of people God puts in their path, regardless of who sees it. But the foolish… oh the foolish will have not done any of that. Because their mindset is this “if we had seen YOU, Lord, of COURSE we would have helped you! If it were YOU, Lord, stranded on the side of the road, of COURSE we would have stopped. For YOU we would’ve done anything!” But you see, that’s not the servant God (through Christ) calls us to be.

 “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
    They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
    there is none who does good.”
~Psalm 14:1

I’ve heard it preached that the original Hebrew here means not “there is no God,” but rather it means “No, God.” I don’t have sources to cite here (other than my flawed notes from the sermon), but for the sake of what I’m about to say let’s just go with it.
The fool says in her heart, “No, God.”
Wow. We’ve already established out terrible it would be to be called a fool by God. And how often do I tell him “no”? How often do I feel the prick or conviction of the Spirit in my heart to lead me toward Godly change, and turn my back on it–making that conviction diminish and go away entirely? How often do I get a sense that I need to encourage someone right away, but let myself get distracted by other things?
My friends… I believe in these instances we are telling our God no. How foolish.
Because how often have you LISTENED to that prick or nudge telling you to encourage someone right away, and they respond with “I am SO GLAD you wrote/called/came by to see me. You have no idea how badly I needed this” ?
God is working my sisters! As His daughters, Princesses, covered in the blood of Christ (Romans 6, Gal. 3:25-29), we are His hands and feet and must always be ready to act in faithful obedience.