Proverbs

Do what is right and fair; that pleases the Lord more than bringing him sacrifices. 21:3

I've always liked the book of Proverbs, for several reasons, not the least of which is that it doesn't take a lot of brains to understand the proverbs. They work for people who have short attention spans. I can appreciate the direct and to-the-point style in which they are delivered, and I find them easy to apply to life in spite of the fact they were written millennia ago. It is convenient that the book of Proverbs has 31 chapters; I often read one each day of the month. I go there when I feel too stupid or cranky to understand other parts of Scripture. I've added a little template to my blog to give me a place to type in a proverb each time I post.

Church today was interesting. Our pastor is a good speaker, he's not hard to listen to, even for those of us whose minds easily wander. Today he wrapped up a series on stewardship in family life based on the familiar passage of Ephesians 5.

He had three funny little acronyms to help us remember how to treat family members.


HAT OFF -- Men should treat their wives:

• H - Honesty. Always tell the truth to your wife.
• A - Affection. Treat your wife with affection.
• T - Talk. Talk to your wife
• O - Opinion. Ask your wife her opinion about matters.
• F - Financial security. Consider it your responsibility to provide most of the funds for your family.
• F - Family commitment. Your wife needs you to love your kids.

HARP -- Wives should treat their husbands:

• H - Homemaking. Wives should take the lead.
• A - Admiration. Wives should express admiration however they can.
• R - Recreational companionship. Wives should find some fun things to do with their husbands.
• P - Physical affection. Well, we all know what this one means, so I won't elaborate. :-)

EAT OUT -- Kids should treat parents:

• E - Encourage your parents. They need it.
• A - Assist your parents when you can.
• T - Thank your parents for what they do for you.
• O - Obey your parents.
• U - Unconditionally love your parents.
• T - Trust. Behave in such a way as to deserve your parents' trust.