The wisest of women builds…
Proverbs 14:1 The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down.
This verse is the basis of my New Year’s resolution to build my home. If you missed my first post, you can read it here.
If you are thinking, “I don’t know how or care to build anything” realize that this verse has very little to do with a woman who can lay bricks and more to do with a woman’s innate ability to turn a house into a home. Wisdom builds. But what is wisdom? Wisdom according to the world would mean we would be more experienced, more educated, more talented, more open-minded, more successful, and more accepting. But biblical wisdom is much different.
Proverbs 9:10 says The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
The phrase fear of the Lord refers to reverence and awe of God. It’s a profound knowledge of His sovereignty and holiness. Having this fear is central to understanding the Bible. It inspires us to have a deep sense of worship and obedience.
Our fear of God grows deeper as we dive into scripture. The more we get to know our creator, the more we have His mind. And the more of His mind we have, the more our hearts align with His will. And as our hearts align with His will, we instinctively have the answers to a lot of the troubles the world throws at us without even thinking. Having wisdom allows us the maneuver through all the twists and turns while still glorifying Him. Wisdom is the biblical use of knowledge.
This means we don’t need to constantly complain about our circumstances and instead turn to scripture and ask God what He’s trying to teach us. This means we want to seek him before we make decisions because our all-knowing God already has the answers. This means we have the endurance to worship Him while we are waiting for Him. Our faith gives us freedom but wisdom gives us the ability to reach the destiny God desires for us.
This is where we start! Since His desire for us is to build our homes let’s go room to room and make a list of things that need done in each room, as well as our desires for each room. Perhaps there is trim missing, holes that need patched, dressers that need sorted through, outlets that need replaced or you’d really like to change the purpose of the room, the color scheme, or rearrange. Next week, we will look at deeper at the word build and come up with a plan to navigate through the list!
Since building our homes is only possible with His wisdom, I encourage you to prayerfully choose a book of the Bible and begin to read it. Afterall, God’s main way of speaking to us is through scripture!
Memory verse: Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.