Message/Application: ‘Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands’. There are plenty of Proverbs aimed at men, but this one is very much aimed at women. By nature, we want to build, nest and nurture, but we have a destructive nature to contend with if we aren’t careful. We might build our homes physically with décor and festivities, but we also build it with our words. If we build it up and then use our words to complain and condemn we will produce and live in the words we have spoken. As I thought about this I thought of domesticated animals we have that follow this basic wisdom. They poop and pee in one place and they don’t pee or poop in the spaces where they sleep and relax. They don’t want to sit in their pee and poop. Proverbs is full of compare and contrast statements about the wise vs the foolish and/or the mocker. I find it interesting that the foolish and the mocker are spoken about separately. Just like the puppy who doesn’t poop where he sleeps and eats, as a woman, I am mindful that my complaints can be as toxic and unproductive as pooping in my kitchen. This may sound like a weird analogy (and it definitely is) but sometimes just speaking that ridiculousness out loud reminds me just how foolish it is to use my words to tear down my own house.
