June 14th – Proverbs 14: Tearing It Down!

“The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” – Proverbs 14:1

Oh man, this Proverb is LOADED. In my last 99 posts, I have talked extensively of the foolish man and the wise man. We’ve even talked of the lady we call Wisdom and the lady we call Folly. But here another two women are mentioned; the wise woman and the foolish woman.

Here we find the wise woman doing what wise women do, BUILDING! The wise or prudent woman builds up her house. This word for build means to make, to obtain children, to set up and interestingly enough, to repair. So we find the wise woman doing all of these things to her own house. She is laying hold of and obtaining children. Why? Because children are a blessing! Any mentality that tells us that children are a burden is pop psychology and rails against biblical wisdom. Sure enough, children are a huge responsibility and not to be taken lightly (I have 3 of them) but they are amazing! Don’t let anyone tell you differently! We also find the wise woman making and setting up her home. She works diligently to make the home a place of nesting and resting. She creates a place of nesting for her as she creates an environment and atmosphere that supports life and peace in the home. She creates a place of resting for him to rest and recreate after exposure in and among the world.

Lastly, we find her repairing the home. She’s repairing the home because stuff breaks! Relationships break down, the kids need adjustment and the marriage needs constant work. Instead of talking against her marriage, her home, her finances, the wise woman gets busy repairing the problem!

Now the foolish woman is another story altogether. The foolish woman tears her OWN home down! The word for “tear down” means; to pull down, break in pieces, ruin, destroy, overthrow and beat down. The foolish woman doesn’t respond well to adversity. When the marriage starts to break down you can hear her badmouthing her “idiot” husband. When the kids are out of control, instead of working diligently to discipline and correct them, she runs her mouth about how “bad” they are and how she can do nothing for them. When finances are tight, instead of pinching pennies and being frugal, she complains and moans about how much better it would be if she married a doctor or a lawyer. The worst thing about it is that she is tearing down her own home!

LIFE LESSON:

As her once beautiful home crumbles all around her, you can see the foolish woman gripping a sledgehammer whilst standing over a pile of rubble, LOUDLY wishing her husband would have done more to save it.