This Proverb says, “Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, that I may respond to him who reproaches me.” I believe Solomon wrote this Proverb because his son may have been misbehaving in some way. Accordingly, Solomon’s acquaintances may have been criticizing or reproaching Solomon for his son’s behavior.
Therefore, Solomon was appealing to his son to be wise and change his ways. This is not an unusual situation in families. Sometimes our children do things that are not wise. Others may observe this, and wonder if we parents have been providing proper guidance for our children. Our children’s reputation may suffer. Our reputation may suffer, as we are responsible for our children.
Therefore, we must give our children wise counsel and guidance in how to live. The only way we can give good counsel is if our counsel is based on God’s guidance. We must also live our lives according to wise counsel. What we do has a bigger impact on our children than what we say.
Our children hear our words. They also observe our actions. If our actions are contrary to our words, then our children will reject our words. In other words we must practice what we preach.
Giving good advice is easy. Following good advice is more difficult. Right living is done thoughtfully and purposefully. It must be practiced. However, it will produce the best results for our lives. It will also produce the best results for our children’s lives.
