The ads that have been surrounding me lately have mostly been about what tools to get dad for Father’s Day. As a father, the sentiment is nice. I do like to have nice tools and I am often building things. We have been building our house for close to a year now and progress sometimes feels slow. Partly because we are not going into debt to build, and partly because I am doing almost everything myself while still working regular job. Another reason is because building a house is much more than making sure the roof is on right and the walls are all square; it also involves the people that will occupy the building. It is this aspect of building a house that the Proverbs highlights.

Proverbs 14:1 KJV

Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.

Why would a person pluck down their own house after they have spent so much time and money building it? It is truly a foolish thing to do, but people do foolish things without consideration and non-stop. People pluck down their houses by not loving their spouse, thinking that they are the most important. Their own feelings, or pride, or honor or whatever are more important to them in the moment than the long-term building project.

The truth is, if we are not actively building up our loved ones we are actively tearing down the walls around us. The key to building a house, is just like building a relationship: it will always take work and will never be completely finished. Being active to correct the wrongs, persistent to details, and always keeping in mind the end goal, that is the key.

Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, birthdays, anniversaries, are all great times to refocus on building onto the things that matter, but it should be a weekly, if not daily, endeavor to perse God, asking Him to build our home, marriage and families, and then striving to do the same in our own actions and responses to those around us in our every day living.

S.T. 
I Thessalonians 5:24
"Faithful is he..."