Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Encouraging others is really important. But as women, we need to be careful not to encourage men in inappropriate ways.

The foolish woman we read about in Proverbs 7 finds a young man and invites him into an immoral relationship. She says, “I came out to meet you, diligently to seek your face, and I have found you.” This married woman is feeding the young man’s need for admiration. She sets him up for moral failure.

Further, when a woman looks for things to admire in a man other than her own husband, it can make her feel discontented with her own marriage. It may even make her more likely to leave what she considers to be a lonely relationship.

Ladies, as you use your words to encourage others, ask God to give you wisdom and restraint in how you encourage men. Ask yourself:Is this the type of admiration that should come from his own wife?

With Seeking Him, I’m Nancy Leigh DeMoss