The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the just.
I love the book of Proverbs. No other book in the Bible has more clearly lined out blessing vs. cursing than this one. As a homeschooling mom, this is a wonderful resource not just for Bible teaching but for Language Arts as well. Here you have a rainbow array of teaching concepts: antonyms, if-then clauses, riddles, similes, imperatives, imagery, symbolism, reading between the lines, and puns - just to name a few. But ultimately, it is a book of wisdom broken down into bite sized pieces a young child and even the Biblically illiterate can understand. A favorite Bible teacher pointed out that there are 31 chapters in Proverbs so you could daily read the chapter that corresponds with each calendar day and find at least one verse that relates directly to your day. I do this with my kids and it is fun to see which ones jump out at them and which ones are immediately etched into their hearts. They had a lot of fun with Proverbs 2:7, He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest... We talked a lot about opposites with this one. Who has common sense? Honest people. Who doesn't have common sense? Dishonest people. Who is the giver of common sense? God is. They tried to see if they could prove this proverb but they could not think of one example (person they knew) where it wasn't true, one way or the other. I do allow some finger pointing, both at ourselves and at others as part of our honest conversation. Kids need to know that all life's choices have consequences, both good and bad. God is not fooled nor mocked. He is proven. And proverbs, by their very nature, are nuggets of wisdom meant to be proven.
There are many Proverbs which do not apply to my kids yet, but I do my best to help explain them as they ask for interpretation. This keeps us all accountable to each other as well. Proverbs 3:33 is clearly for adults and undoubtedly imperative for parents. We all want our homes to be blessed by God. In order to be blessed, we must be "just" in His eyes.
So what and who is just in God's eyes? One who fears the Lord and turns away from evil. Job 1:1 A person who hears and obeys the Lord. James 2:14-26 A person with a reputation of integrity. Acts 10:22 A person who puts their faith in Jesus Christ. Galations 2:16 As it is written, the just shall live by faith in God. Romans 1:16-17 Note that being just does not mean we will never sin. Ecclesiastes 7:20, For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin. It does mean we should gain wisdom to strengthen us from that sin and warn others of the sin as we submit to God's authority, repent and move forward in right relationship with Him. Ecclesiastes 7:15-20
A home blessed by God will be a sanctuary for those who reside in it. A place of love, joy, peace, stability and safety even when it seems the whole world is in chaos. A blessed home is a place to close yourself away from much of the sin that goes on in the world. A place to learn, ask and make mistakes without fear of condemnation. It is a refuge from the storm. A place where Truth reigns. But without God's blessing, the home is unprotected from all manner of evil hence the curse in Proverbs 3:33. Without God's shield, sin will be rampant in the home and peace will not exist within it. Worse yet, if the occupants of that home are parents who are disobedient to God, we can expect that their sins will be visited on their children even to the third and fourth generations. Exodus 34:6-7 So it's a vital responsibility that we keep ourselves just before God so we have His hedge of protection and blessing upon our home and family.
Over the past year, I have taken some time to examine and ponder the many sins of my teenage years and beyond. (And Mark's too) The point of this was not to lay blame on our parents or others involved; we can no more change the choices they made than they can change the sins we walked in. Instead, I wanted to explore the factors in our home lives that led us in those directions so that maybe we can spare our children from the curse of repeating our sins in the future. Part of breaking the generational curse is recognizing the sin, taking responsibility for it, and repenting - not just for yourself, but also for your parent's sin that contributed to yours. Leviticus 26:40 Ultimately what I am seeking is Deuteronomy 5:10, God showing mercy to the thousands of generations who love Him and keep His commandments. Mercy to the just. What I found in taking an honest look at both Mark and my home environments was that neither were a sanctuary blessed by God. I realized again something I've known for a long time; that if home is not a place where a child can live in God's peace and love, they will do one of two things. Either revel in the sin that exists in that home or try to get themselves out of that situation. Mark chose the former while I chose the latter and both choices led to negative consequences, grief and heartache. Let's just say we've both gained a lot of wisdom through sin. Enough wisdom to know that we don't want to force our children to repeat our mistakes because we repeat our parent's mistakes. "Common sense" tells me it's time to do something altogether different. Our parents mistakes would have been corrected by being just before God: by honoring Him and honoring His will for their marriages.
God tells us exactly how He expects us to act as His Children in Colossians 3:12-14 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. Building upon this with Ephesians 5:22-33 specifically for married couples; Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Furthermore and again in Colossians 3:18-19 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. Once the godly marriage relationship is established then children are then admonished in Colossians 3:20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. Finally an additional word to fathers in v21. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
Here's the bottom line; I want His shield and blessing over my home. I grew up without it. I don't want my children to grow up without it. I know that as parents, whether or not these exist in our home depends on our faithfulness: both to each other and to Him. That said, I plan to prove His promises with my life and teach my children to follow suit in faith, not in sin. Maybe in doing so, they'll be spared a lot of heartache by not having to learn everything in life the hard way.
Psalm 18:30 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
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