# 446 The Proverbs – ‘A manual for living’ (MSG). Proverbs 17 (1). ‘Home sweet home’, maybe?

As a boy, we rarely sat around a dining room table and enjoyed not only the food but also the conversations and interactions with the family. In fact, the opposite was true. There was just too much strife and bad feelings amongst us all to enable our home to fit the description of ‘home sweet home’! Being what is known as a ’blended family’ doesn’t always work well and certainly ours didn’t. It reminds me of the first verse of Proverbs 17 which says:

Better a dry crust with peace and quiet
    than a house full of feasting, with strife.

Of course, the issue is not the food at all, it is the relationships that exist there at the table, and if there is strife there will likely be indigestion as well, no matter how good the food is.

Proverbs considers the home environment very important for a fulfilling and happy life and so talks about issues which hinder that, as follows:

¹³ Evil will never leave the house
    of one who pays back evil for good.

How often have you experienced doing good and yet discovering that the response is ungratefulness and selfishness. Sad but just too common in our homes.

¹⁴ Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam;
    so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

Ever see a dam that is breached? By this stage it is often too late to do anything and the flow of water continues and sometimes destroys everything in its course. Such is the situation described here when someone starts a quarrel. The advice is worth considering very seriously: drop the matter before a dispute breaks out!

Another verse in chapter 17 on this subject is helpful:  

²⁸ Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent,
    and discerning if they hold their tongues.

James in the NT writes this concerning the issue of our words:

… the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶ The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.  (James 3:5-6)   Next time, think carefully of the consequences before you speak!

On this subject Proverbs continues:

¹⁹ Whoever loves a quarrel loves sin;
    whoever builds a high gate invites destruction.

Then there is some positive advice:

¹⁷ A friend loves at all times,
    and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

²² A cheerful heart is good medicine,
    but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Just imagine the difference love and cheerfulness makes in a home, and how desperately we often need that ‘brother’ by our side to comfort us during times of ‘adversity.’  

Let me finish with the words of Peter in the NT:

⁷ The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. ⁸ Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ⁹ Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.  (1 Peter 4:7-11)

Today, may your home be, as close as is possible for all of you involved, ‘home sweet home.’