Foundations of Love – Proverbs 14:1

The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands.

Jesus Christ is the sure foundation upon which a wise man or woman, a spouse, a parent, a friend, can build a home and provide a secure dwelling place for its residents. For those who received the Lord and determined to live out His teachings will build their homes upon bedrock,[1] with Jesus Christ Himself as the cornerstone.[2] Though rising waters and raging storms may pound against it, as they undoubtedly will, this house, with Jesus as the rock of its foundation, will stand.

Be as the wise woman of proverbs. Invite Jesus to live in your home, for He is love,[3] and the home in which He lives will abound in love. Lay your home’s foundation on Jesus Christ and it will never crumble. Build its walls with wisdom, establish it by understanding, and furnish it with knowledge, so these treasures will surround the precious souls with whom the Lord graces your life.[4]  Fill it with discernment, and desire whatsoever things are excellent and praiseworthy,[5] and truth will take up occupancy within it. Carpet it with kindness, gentleness, compassion, patience, and mercy, and it will be an exceedingly pleasant place to live, a place of joy and refuge for those who enter it.

Lay down your life for those who will dwell within this house, loving them with every modicum of strength you possess. Protect them out of the sincerity of your devotion, shunning evil and upholding what is good and right in God’s sight.[6] Forgive them all offenses,[7] allowing your desire for their welfare and happiness to burn hotter than any matter of pride could extinguish.  Serve them the nourishing fruits of tenderheartedness and peace, so they will grow strong in faith and devotion, and when the time comes for some to leave the sanctuary you have created, they will, in their turn, build homes on the firm foundation of faith in Jesus.

Build your house on nothing less than Jesus Christ, and you will build a house of stone, one that will endure, one in which your loved ones can live without fear, one in which they will blossom and grow in the Lord.  Nurture those the Lord brings into your home, and pray that they might become rooted and grounded in love, with Jesus Christ dwelling in their hearts by faith.[8]

I’ll love you forever

    I promise I will

I’ll love forever

    I’ll love you until

The waters and wind have

    Reversed rivers and land

When the mountains lay flat

    And the forests dry sand

I’ll love you when gladness

    Reigns in our home

While we gather the harvest

    Of the seeds of love sown

I’ll love you when sunshine

    Seems lost to the night

As if joy has departed

    And hope taken flight

I’ll love you as only Christ’s love

    Could in my heart imbue

A love for you, Darling

    Everlasting and true

[1] Matthew 7:24

[2] Psalm 118:22

[3] 1 John 4:16

[4] Proverbs 24:3-4

[5] Philippians 1:9-10

[6] Romans 12:9

[7] Matthew 6:12; Ephesians 4:32

[8] Ephesians 3:17-19