The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the
foolish one tears hers down.
Proverbs 14:1
This ends this reading from God's holy word.
Thanks be to God.
Most scripture is universally directed. What I mean by that is that
the Word of God is most often equally applicable to all of God’s people
regardless of gender, age, or nationality. Given this, there are times when the
scriptures speak to one particular group of people such as the Israelites or
the Pharisees or children or husbands or, in the case of today’s scripture
verse from Proverbs 14:1, wives. Look at what the Lord is saying through this
verse:
The wise woman builds her
house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down. Proverbs 14:1
(NIV)
Now, before we get started, let’s just understand up front that we’re
not talking about wives with construction ability here. What God’s word is
addressing is the wife within the framework of the family residing in the home
and the operative question to all wives is this:
Are you building up or tearing down your family?
It’s definitely a question worth pondering, particularly in the
light of so many relationships breaking down and apart these days. Of course,
not every broken relationship comes as a result of a wife who is not interested
in building up but rather tearing down but there is a fair share that fit this
category. This is why the Word of God for today is so important. The Lord does
not wish for any relationship to end up broken. Instead, He desires for every
relationship to thrive in love and faith, placing Him in charge of everything
that happens in the home. Trust and know that when the Lord is the head of the
household, it will never be torn down.
So what do we take away from the word for today?
Often, one of the best ways to fully understand a verse is to look
at it through the lens of multiple translations. This is one such verse and so
look at these other interpretations of the word of God from Proverbs 14:1:
The wisest of women builds
her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down. ESV
A woman’s family is held together by her
wisdom, but it can be destroyed by her foolishness. CEV
Homes are made by the wisdom
of women, but are destroyed by foolishness. GNT
A wise woman builds her house,
but a foolish one picks it to splinters with her own hands. The Voice
A wise woman buildeth her
house; and an unwise woman shall destroy with hands, that is, with her evil
works, an house builded. Wycliffe Bible
When we look at the alternative translations, we learn this about what a
wife should and shouldn’t do.
First, what she should do.
A wife is to be wise.
This is the overarching theme of Proverbs, isn’t it? Words spoken by a
man with a reputation for wisdom, Solomon, would be expected to include a lot
of encouragement toward people seeking and using the same gift.
When a wife builds her house up using wisdom, that house is held
together. The wisdom of the wife becomes the glue that makes the home and keeps
the family held together. Wisdom results in proper prudence and discernment and
discretion, all critical character elements a wife is to have.
So if you are reading this and you are a wife, how well are you meeting
this mark? How well are you using wisdom to build up your home?
Not heeding this guidance from the Lord only leads to what a wife
shouldn’t do and the subsequent tearing apart and demolition of the family.
A wife isn’t to be foolish.
Foolishness is the converse of wisdom. It never leads to sensible
actions but rather folly which includes sinful, evil behavior that tears down a
family and the home they share. Instead of being the glue that holds the home
and family together with wisdom, the foolish wife is the destructive wrecking
ball or explosive that either smashes the home to splinters or blows it up,
leaving only ruins.
So if you’re a wife, does this describe you and the way you are
operating in your home? Are you destroying the very home that the Lord desires
to stay intact?
If so, today is the day to change all that, the day when you can come
before the Lord, repent of your sinfulness, and ask for His help and guidance
to lead you. In other words, today is the day that you can decide to trade in
your foolishness for the wisdom that the Lord longs for you to have. Today is
the day that you can start building your home and family back up, even if you
have started tearing it down.
My prayer today is that all wives with families would seek the Lord and
His wisdom. My prayer is that every home would be built upon the foundation of
the Lord with Jesus as the cornerstone. My prayer is that every family would be
overflowing with peace and love and joy.
If these prayers would come to be, wouldn’t we be living in a much
better world?
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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