Beautiful Home
Proverbs 24:3-4 NCV
3 It takes wisdom to have a good family, and it takes understanding to make it strong.
4 It takes knowledge to fill a home with rare and beautiful treasures.
In the 1981 hit song by Luther Vandross, "A House Is Not a Home," part of the lyrics state, "A chair is still a chair, even when there's no one sitting there. But a chair is not a house, and a house is not a home - when there's no one there to hold you tight, and no one there, you can kiss good night." Home is where our story begins—the starting place of love, hope, and dreams. A house is made of bricks and beams; a home is made of hopes and dreams.
The main theme of the whole book of Proverbs is wisdom. The house is a representation of life. Building an ideal life complete with excellent connections, adequate treasure, and personal success is symbolized by building a satisfactory, prosperous, and delightful home.
King Solomon built the "house of the Lord," where the glory of the Lord descended and was blessed, as well as his own magnificent palace, making him one of the most productive real estate developers in biblical history and more than qualified to say, "By wisdom a house is built." (Proverbs 24:3). King Solomon, however, did not just mean a physical house when he said, "By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures." (Proverbs 24:3–4). Solomon was aware of the positive, life-enhancing benefits of the advantage of wisdom.
Therefore, wherever we live and with whomever we live, the foundation of our lives and our families should be built on wisdom and established with understanding. Family does more than reflect God’s character, it provides a safe place where children can experience God’s love (through their parents) and learn how to love other people. Our family is God’s greatest gift to us, and we are charged with the responsibility of nurturing our family relationships with wisdom and knowledge, with the overall goal of creating a strong and happy family.
We can sum up this series into three words
Wisdom - Understanding - Knowledge
May every room in your life and houses be filled with treasure of knowledge.
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Kick-off - June 04
BEAUTIFUL HOME
Proverbs 24:3-4 NCV
3 It takes wisdom to have a good family, and it takes understanding to make it strong.
4 It takes knowledge to fill a home with rare and beautiful treasures.
Psalms 127:1
1 “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labour in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”
Someone once quoted this: "Never mistake knowledge for wisdom". One helps you make a living; the other helps you make life," meaning that knowledge comes from learning and wisdom comes from living. Our home should be built on wisdom. God should be the one who builds it, and His blessing should flow into every aspect of our relationship at home.
God should be the foundation of our home and nothing else. A house's foundation determines how big it can become; a large house cannot be built on a weak or inadequate foundation since it will collapse. The same is true for our home and family; we cannot be strong or beautiful on a weak foundation.
As we go along learning life in every turn of our family life experiences, this should lead to grow and mature in understanding. This biblical definition shows that wisdom is not just knowledge. Wisdom is the soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of experience. You may know what to do, but wisdom is when and how to do it.
Key Points
1. By wisdom a house is built
This is the theme of our series, Wisdom: The Home is a representation of life." Building an adequate, happy, and enjoyable home is a symbol for building a wonderful life filled with great relationships. With wisdom, a life is built, and with understanding, it is established.
2. By understanding it is established
Imagine for a moment that your family is your greatest capital. For example it is money in your hands, what will you do? Will you gamble it by chance or would like to invest it to see it grow and become fruitful? You have in your hands the most precious treasure one can have and that is your family. Our family is God’s greatest gift to us, and we are charged with the responsibility of nurturing our family relationships with wisdom and knowledge, with the overall goal of creating a strong and happy family.
3. By knowledge the rooms are filled
Knowledge includes both information and abilities. Without established abilities that others can see and admire, one cannot have fulfilment in their lives. Knowledge is the accumulation of facts, but wisdom is the God-given ability to apply those facts to our everyday lives. In an information age, it is easy to get these two confused, but wisdom is much harder to come by than knowledge. Each member of our family has a role to play in creating a happy house since this is what generates the wealth that enables the rooms to be filled.
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Week 1 - June 11
WISDOM
Our Solid Foundation
Proverbs 24:3 NCV
3 It takes wisdom to have a good family,...
Matthew 7:24–27
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Our Lord Jesus teaches an important point by saying that the foundation—what the majority don't see—is what actually counts, regardless of how the structure seems from the outside. Depending on the foundation it is constructed upon, a structure will either stand or fall. Depending on the foundation we hold, we will either remain stable or crumble.
We must establish our family lives on the solid rock of God's love in Christ because it requires wisdom to have a good family. God's instructions provide us a firm foundation, and God's Word functions as windows that let God's light in. We all struggle to live happy and fulfilling lives. The key to achieving this is for our family to revolve around Jesus.
Key Points
1. Prepare ourselves for our present reality.
As parents, we tend to build our home on what has always been done or how our parents did it. That does make a little sense. Tradition becomes tradition because it works. But no tradition lasts forever. It eventually wears out, becomes obsolete, and is invalid. There are ways that we have to keep, and there are new realities that we need to learn and apply in our present home life.
2. Prepare our children to face their future battles and victories
The direction you start with your children determines the destination where they are likely to arrive. The good news is that while you can’t force your kids to have good character, you are in a position to significantly influence the outcome of their attitudes, actions, and behaviours when they grow up.
3. Prepare our children to know that God has a special purpose for placing them in a family.
In order to serve as an example of how to respect parents and take advantage of their loving guidance, Our Lord Himself was born into a family and surrendered to an earthly parent. It was within the nurturing care of His earthly family that "Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men" (Luke 2:52).
May God give us wisdom every day to guide us as we create a joyful home!
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Week 2 - June 18 (FATHER’S DAY)
UNDERSTANDING
Our Positive Support Team
Proverbs 24:3 NCV
“…and it takes understanding to make it strong”
Proverbs 1:7-8 NIV
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Families live in a brand-new world nowadays. If we aim to bring up our families exactly the way we did, we are moving against the flow. Children are exposed to knowledge and problems that parents from a previous generation would not have had to deal with due to the rapid advancement of technology. Nowadays, it's harder than ever for families that attempt to live a holy life to avoid going endangered. The good news is that the basic principles of the Bible still apply to family life.
Parents are still the best influencers to make a family strong, and they need to develop understanding to do so. Although the faith and godliness of your children are ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit, God often uses the influence of parents to make a great impact on their lives. God wants us to be successful in our family lives, and we need to be aware of the importance of families and how, apart from God, we are seeing more tragedy than good.
Key points
1. Children feel secure and loved when they have strong and positive family relationships.
One of the great challenges of our day is to raise our children in the midst of a fast-paced culture. We move so fast and have so many opportunities and obligations that it’s hard to find time to be together as a family, much less preparing our children on how to face the world. Positive family relationships are built on quality time, communication, teamwork and appreciation of each other.
2. Positive family relationships help families resolve conflict, work as a team and enjoy each other’s company.
A strong, united family doesn’t happen on its own and without a lot of involvement on behalf of everyone. As a parent, you have to teach your children the right values. As a partner, you need to support your significant other while also focusing on personal development.
3. Positive messages encourage our children to seek more wisdom.
Our children are more interested in who we are than what we say, regardless of how often we take them to church or allow them to join us at all of our events and trainings.
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Week 3 - June 25
Knowledge
Our Treasure
Proverbs 24:4 NCV
“4 It takes knowledge to fill a home with rare and beautiful treasures.”
Matthew 13:44
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field".
This may be understood both physically and spiritually in terms of the fullness that the family has from God through Christ and the unsearchable riches of God they receive from Him. The Bible advises us to make the knowledge of God the most important knowledge that we can gain, more important than any other type of insight or wisdom.
It seems natural to seek wisdom in every area of our lives, yet we frequently ignore the wisdom of God. We are called to actively search for insight and wisdom from God so that we can know the Lord. Knowledge always remains a part of life. Sharing treasure can aid someone momentarily, but sharing knowledge will aid our children who receive it for a lifetime.
Key Points
1. Knowledge is the foundations of lasting wealth.
There are no short cuts; dishonest people ultimately lose; foolishness only appears to work; and riches acquired through conceit disappear. A family's good life is only as far away as its wisdom.
2. Action and Application are the clear evident of Knowledge.
Knowledge is the only treasure that cannot be stolen, and putting it into practice always pays the best return. Teaching our children how to apply knowledge is the most important treasure we can give them.
3. Personal relationship and not Technology should be the source of our knowledge.
Technology can help us acquire knowledge, and although technology can be fun, it’s not always the best thing for our family. When everyone gets wrapped up in their online social lives, even innocent interactions can divert our time and attention from the real purpose of family growth.
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