Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Wisdom from Proverbs”
Our Bible verse for today: “Better to live on the corner of a roof than to share a house with a nagging wife.” Proverbs 21:9 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “How easy are you to live with?”
Someone once asked me if I thought the Antichrist could be a woman. I told them that I never used to think so, but if you’ve ever lived with a woman going through menopause … Well, I’ll just leave that thought there.
This problem of a nagging wife and a poor beleaguered husband seeking some peace and quiet on the corner of a roof is an issue that’s addressed directly at least four times in the Proverbs. And as I’ve pointed out on numerous other occasions, if God addresses an issue more than once in the Bible that must mean there’s a lesson here that somebody is supposed to be learning. Here’s another example: “Better to live in a wilderness than with a nagging and hot-tempered wife.” Proverbs 21:19.
Beyond that, there are zero instances in the Proverbs of Solomon making any reference to a nagging and hot-tempered husband. (Just saying …)
Ok, now that I’ve got all the ladies out there mad at me let me quickly say that I’m just kidding and that there is actually a larger lesson in this is for all of us. The lesson is that Christians should be easy to live with, not hard. We should be a blessing to each other, not a thorn in the side of those who share a home with us. Sadly however we’re often not easy to live with. Many times we’re nicer to the people we meet out in the world all day long than we are to the people who share a home with us.
Why is that? Since the people we live with are presumably those who are closest and most important to us in life, they should be the people we treat the best, not the worst. That was really Solomon’s point. I think he wrote his Proverbs on the issue the way that he did just to mess with the ladies, but the broader lesson is that God expects all of us to be a blessing to our spouse and children, as well as to anyone else who might share our home.
If you would like to read an expanded teaching on this subject you can go to my website at www.JimMersereauBooks.com and download the free articles “A Biblical Model for Marriage” and “A Biblical Model for Parenting”. Both of those articles provide additional Biblical insight into maintaining healthy relationships with those who are closest to us.
The question is: “How easy are you to live with?” But don’t answer that question yourself. That would be too easy. Ask the people who actually live with you what they think. And then be prepared to humbly make changes if you need to.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 