That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither — whatever they do prospers. Psalm 1:3
“Is there any blessing of heaven which is more beautiful, more worthy of our warmest gratitude than the possession of a home where goodness, kindness, and joy are daily inmates; where the heart and eye may sun themselves in a world of love; where the mind is clear and elevated; where friends, not merely by words but by actions, say to each other, “Thy gladness, thy sorrow, thy hope, thy prayer, are also mine!”
See how, within the good and happy family, all inequalities are smoothed down, so as to form a common element of goodness and beauty, in which each member of the family finds his life, each power its development, each feeling its reception and its return, each pure pleasure its expansion…Life in a happy family is a perpetual development, a continual spring day.”
Frederick Bremer (1801-1865) in The Neighbors: A Story of Everyday Life, translated from Swedish by Mary Howitt (New York: Harper, 1843) 84.
Bremer’s sketches of everyday life in Sweden shaped living in Britain and the United States in the middle of the 19th century.
Here she speaks of the impact that goodness, also known as generosity, can have when coupled with kindness and joy in a home. It creates a place of perpetual development for all who live there and all who visit.
Is your home a place where, when people enter and visit, they become partakers of the peace, life, and love?
My wife, Jenni, and I have intentionally tried to make our home into a sanctuary where the Spirit of God dwells, where people experience the love of Christ, and where they see Bible verses and sayings that minister to their souls.
Walk around your home sometime today. What do you see? Is there clutter that must go? What do you hear? Is there noise that must be quieted?
Make your home a place that fosters “perpetual development” for all who enter it. Do this so that all who enter will prosper there. Fill it with generosity, kindness, and joy. It will be life-giving for you and everyone else.