Building the House Within – A Reflection on Proverbs 14:1
- pamrcone
- May 14
- 3 min read
“Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.” Proverbs 14:1
One of my favorite verses in the Book of Proverbs is this simple yet profound truth about the wise woman. But what if we looked at this scripture through a more personal lens? What if “her house” is not just her family or home, but herself?
In 2 Corinthians, Paul refers to our bodies as “earthen vessels” and “earthly houses.” Genesis 2:7 reminds us that God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. God created us, body, soul, and spirit, and called us good. So, how are we honoring this divine creation?
To build our house is to care for the totality of who we are: our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. It’s choosing wisdom over folly, which is at the heart of Proverbs, not being neglectful, being intentional over impulsive. Our soul is where our emotions, desires, will, and heart dwell and requires just as much care as our physical body. This is our inward being. The Holy Spirit dwells within our innermost being, our spirit. The Holy Spirit wants to flood our souls, to have influence on our emotions, desires, will, and heart to strengthen our soul, our house.
In John 14:23, Jesus said, “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.” Our heart is not the organ, but rather is housed in our souls and must be open to God, to love God, and receive God's Love. When we open our hearts by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we invite the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to guide, comfort, and through God’s power.
Spiritual formation takes intentional practice. Through reading God’s Word, prayer, and meditating on His truth, we create space for God to speak to our hearts and minds. We pour out our hearts to Him and receive instruction. We reflect, we listen, and we ask God to flood our souls to be able to live according to His Will.
David prayed in Psalm 51, “Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part you shall make me to know wisdom.” We must stop hiding from ourselves. Real spiritual growth begins with the desire for truth and transformation and a desire for more of Jesus, who is the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). This is gained by reading and believing His Word, Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) Hebrew 10:7 KJV
St.John 6, “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst”. Just as He told the woman at the well, He said he would give her living water, and it would be a well that springs up into everlasting life. This isn’t water from a physical well, but a supernatural filling from the Father through Faith in His Son. The Holy Spirit, the excellency of the power of God, dwells in us, the earthen vessel, the earthly house.
To build our house wisely is to believe that Jesus is the bread that came down from heaven, and to ask God for this living water, to fill us to the brim like the vessels in John 2 at the wedding in Cana. Jesus wasn’t merely concerned about running out of wine; He was pointing us to a deeper miracle: being filled with the Holy Spirit. Being filled with His Spirit makes us complete. Being filled makes us whole.
To pluck our house down, or be foolish, which in Proverbs, wisdom is always juxtaposed to folly, is to deny the truth of who God is, to reject His Son, and ignore the Holy Spirit. It is to disbelieve who He has chosen us to be. To build our house, this earthen vessel and earthly house, is to come into agreement with what God has proclaimed about us. Wisely building our house is to believe the report of the Lord and to receive all that He has promised.
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