Is there any greater need in the human heart than to feel loved? Yet we often resist the demonstrations, the words and the responses that reveal to the one we love just how deeply we care.
As we continue studying A Woman after God’s Own Heart by Elisabeth George, we’re going to get details about how we can demonstrate our love on a daily basis.
Continuation of our series and review of the book, A Woman After God’s Own Heart.
I love getting to counsel women who are engaged and preparing for marriage. They are excited about their new life ahead with this man whom they love so much. I remember when I was in that stage of life – I couldn’t imagine that I could love Dale any more than I did at that moment. But Paul writes in Titus that the older women should instruct the younger women to love their husbands! Why? Because life happens. Struggles come. Sinners sin and love can be tested and strained. Therefore, younger women need to be taught how to love when it’s not all violin music and ocean sunsets.
If your home seems like a monster is living there, or if there is more strife than there is unity, it may be missing an important element that, when added, allows for peace.
Lesson 5 in our review of A Woman After God’s Own Heart, by Elizabeth George.
I remember as a young girl, looking at myself in the mirror and thinking, “Why am I here? What is my purpose?” I think most of us have pondered that question at some time or other. But as a follower of Christ, it’s narrowed that question to, “What does God want from me as a Christian?” God doesn’t snatch us up out of this world and take us to heaven (as wonderful as that would be!) the moment we get saved. Why not? What purpose does He have for leaving us here?
As a woman who loves to bake, I can tell you that there’s nothing more disheartening than baking up a new bread recipe then cutting a slice after it’s cooled only to find that it’s dry!
Ugh.
It’s frustrating to go to all that trouble only to have dry morsels fill your mouth like so many tumbleweeds in the desert. But did you know that God’s Word tells us that there is a time when dry bread can be a good thing?!
Proverbs 17: 1 says
Better is a dry morsel with quietness,
Than a house full of feasting with strife.
There is nothing appealing about a dry morsel to our taste buds, but God’s Word says the blessing of quietness and peace is so great, that it makes a dry morsel more desirable than moist bread, dipped in Olive oil!
This passage is saying that peace in the home is beyond all other material blessings. A home full of feasting is wonderful, until that home is full of strife. Have you experienced how hard it is to take a bite of anything when there’s strife and contention around the table? We all have.
If peace is so desirable, then what keeps us from having it? Why isn’t it permeating from our family relationships as it should?
There can be other causes, but ladies, God’s Word gives us several pictures in Proverbs that point the finger of strife in our direction. It’s a hard picture to look at because it’s very telling. This is convicting to my own selfish heart. Listen to ways we can destroy the peace…
A foolish son is his father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping. Prov. 19:13
It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house. Prov. 21:9
Prov. 25:24 It is better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
Prov. 15:16, 17 Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure with turmoil.
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, Than a fatted calf with hatred.
Listen to what is being traded in so that apeace can be found –
Strife
Quarrels
turmoil
brawling
hatred
What would a person take so they could enjoy quietness at home?
a corner of the housetop
a corner of the roof
just a little material goods
a dinner of herbs
a dry morsel
Love sweetens dry morsels
~Matthew Henry
If you’re realizing that there is little peace in your home, recognize that if you are a child of God, you have the Prince of Peace living in you! The Christ in you should permeate each relationship, allowing His peace to rule.
Ask the Lord if you’ve contributed to the strife by being contentious and quarrelsome. Be still and let His Spirit speak to you. Then humble yourself and make it right before God and also your family. Invite them to come in off the rooftop, and serve up some dry morsels, slathered with love. Peace will return.
P.S. It’s better for your pride to be hurt than your family destroyed.
RefreshHer 