Day 11: Parenting Wisdom from Proverbs

“He who brings trouble on his family will inherit only wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.” (Proverbs 11:29-30 NIV)

Bringing trouble on our family is not something any mother would want her life marked by.

We all know the contentious, snooty, meddling woman who has caused her children years and years of hurt, grief, and frustration which has turned into bitterness as they became adults.

I would say that is bringing trouble to the family.

Even more concerning is the thought that her words, attitudes, and choices may have actually turned her children away from the Lord.

Do you know anyone like that?

Our option, according to today’s passage, is to either bring trouble or be a tree of life to our family.

What do our words, actions and attitudes bring into our home?

Are we the parent who will “inherit wind,” meaning we’re just a liability or a weightless voice in our children’s lives?

Or are we the parent who nurtures and encourages, pouring out fruits that instruct our children in the way of the Lord, eventually winning their souls for Him?

Consider this day the influence you are to the hearts in your home. Do you provide nourishment?

Are you the indispensable voice that delivers hope, showers wisdom and sprinkles instruction throughout your home?

Do your words deposit eternal wealth into your children’s hearts? Or have you made too many withdrawals from their banks of hope, joy and potential?

Our words, actions, and attitudes today deposit into the relationships we harvest tomorrow.

Provide encouragement. Provide safety. Provide fruit that comes from a tree of life.

“If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8 NIV). 

-Kaylene