BRINGING GOODNESS TO YOUR HOME, No. 686
BRINGING GOODNESS TO YOUR HOME
“Ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men”
(1 Thessalonians 5:15).
God is good. It is one of His attributes and He wants us to be full of goodness too. Goodness should also be part of our family lives. I notice the word “good” is used twice in Proverbs 31, one in regard to marriage, and one in regard to the home.
Firstly, Proverbs 31:12, talking about her husband, it says: “She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.” My husband reads this Scripture every Friday evening at our Shabbat meal as he reads through this chapter. Sometimes he will say, “She will do him good and not evil some of the days of her life.” He waits to hear if we noticed if he has read incorrectly. Someone will usually interrupt and say, “No, it is “all the days of her life.”
Secondly, Proverbs 31:18 says: “She perceiveth that her merchandise is good.” This particularly refers to the gain from her home industry. But it also encompasses everything she puts her hand to in her home. It relates to everything she purchases and brings into her home.
Dear wives and mothers, we need to keep this vision in our hearts for everything we do. Even when we go shopping. We only bring back into our homes that which is good. We only purchase good food. Food that nourishes the body. We won’t waste money purchasing devitalized foods such as white flour and white sugar (which is a poison) and packets and tins of food with corn syrup and loads of additives which are mostly cancer forming. Do you read the labels? Sometimes I see something interesting but once I read the label, back in goes on the shelf!
We won’t bring home junky stuff that clutters the home but has no value. We will fill our homes with lovely music, good books, beautiful pictures. Everything that is good.
We are so used to this word good that we take it for granted. But do you know the biblical meaning of good (tov)? It takes a paragraph of adjectives and adverbs to give you the full meaning of this little Hebrew word!
Here we go: agreeable, beautiful, beneficial, better, best, bountiful, cheerful, excellent, ethically right, fair, fairer, fine, glad, gracious, happy, happiness, joyful, kind, kindness, loving, merry, merciful, pleasant to the senses, pleasant to the higher nature, precious, prosperous, rich, sweet, upright, valuable, and very good. Yes, all these words are in the Hebrew Lexicon. we, Y
Wow! This gives us a wonderful vision for our homes, doesn’t it?
We don’t waste our time on peripheral things; this life is preparing for eternity.
We don’t waste money on fleeting stuff; we only bring into our homes that which is beneficial and beautiful.
We don’t waste our time always eating at fast food restaurants; we are creating family bonding times at home at our own table with all our children around us.
We don’t waste our time on trifling entertainment for ourselves; we give our time to productivity that will bless our household.
We don’t speak downgrading and negative words; we will fill our home with cheerful, kind, sweet, and encouraging words.
We live the testimony of the woman in 1 Timothy 5:10 who was: “Well reported of for good works: if she has brought up children; if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.”
Each new day, can you think of something special and something good you can do for your husband?
What about your children?
Can you think of something good that will bring gain and blessing to your home today.
Always be thinking how you can make your home a HOME SWEET HOME.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
PRAYER:
“Dear God, I acknowledge that You are good. Please help me to also be full of goodness, always doing good to those around me—my husband, my children, and the people who are in my life. Amen.”
AFFIRMATION:
I want to live a life of goodness, in my home and out of my home.