SEEKING PEACE

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

SEEKING PEACE

Prov 19:13

13 A foolish son is his father's ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping.

NIV

It would seem many, if not all fathers, take pride in a son who makes something of himself. It says something about his fathering skills, or his ability to influence his son in becoming a successful man. For the worldly father, that would be a son who becomes a professional maker of fortune and fame, in a sense. To the Christian father, that would mean a son who grows in the Lord and becomes a mature man of God. For both, when their son is foolish, it speaks volumes regarding the style in which the father raised him.

Interesting, that the foolish son and his father’s ruin is paired with the second half of this proverb of a quarrelsome wife.  Perhaps a quarrelsome wife has something to contribute to a son becoming foolish.  Or that, both a foolish son and a quarrelsome wife is a man’s ruin. In the Greek, (is the calamity of his father: a foolish son and the continual contentions of his wife) the wording would lead us to believe that both the son and the wife have a great effect on the man of the house.

With the pressures of the world on the men outside of the home, the only respite a man has is to come home after a tiresome day, where the atmosphere is peaceful and filled with joy.  We are admonished to seek peace, wives respect husbands:

Eph 5:33 - However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.  NIV

James 3:18 - Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. NIV

1 Peter 3:11-12 - Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.  For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."   NIV

It would seem that a contentious or quarrelsome wife would not be seeking peace for her home, thus effecting both her husband and her son.  Can we be so bold as to add daughters, or children to this verse?   A loving, respectful, peace seeking wife will then raise a harvest of righteousness in her home. 

Having taken liberties with this verse, we should in all ways seek peace in our homes, thus sending out husbands and children into the world knowing they have a peaceful home to return to.