A Woman After God's Own Heart ~ Chapter 13

A Heart That Makes a House a Home

Proverbs 14:1 ~ The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

• Creating the atmosphere
• I want the atmosphere inside our house to be warm, cheerful, loving, positive, and constructive.
• God gives us the heart, the wisdom, and the words to create a healthy atmosphere.
• Building a refuge
• build the kind of home which strengthens and renews each family member
• Avoiding the negatives
• anger out of control speaks words that break, destroy, ruin and kill.
• simply failing to work
• never getting around to "it"
• We can slowly erode the foundation of our home by our laziness
• Making a house a home is indeed a matter of the heart.

How?

• Understand that wisdom builds
• We are either about the business of building the home, its atmosphere and its order, or we are pulling it down through destructive attitudes and neglect.
• Decide to begin building
• It's never too late to begin to build your house, to create an enchanted oasis called "home"
• Begin by making a positive decision (or by recommitting yourself) to do  your work in the home "willingly" (Proverbs 31:13) and "heartily" (Colossians 3:23).
• The attitude of your heart is key.
• Each day, do one thing to build your home
• make a l its of the things that need to be added, repaired, set up, etc., so that your area is more of a refuge.  Then do just one item on your list each day-- or even one each week.
• You may also want to deal with one attitude that--if improved, if transformed by God--would enhance the atmosphere of the home.

God--who made us and knows us best--wants us to make a house a home, and He will help us do that.