Sticks and Stones

# 339 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 25:2,3, “Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel, and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings. And he was of the house of Caleb. (1 Sam 25:2,3) Today we begin the account of Nabal, Abigail, and David. The first thing we learn about Nabal is that he is very rich. The next thing we learn is that his name is Nabal. In the Hebrew his name literally means dolt, which is another way of saying he was a fool. It seems to me that we have an Old Testament story developing of a rich fool. But first of all, I find myself wondering about Nabal's parents. What kind of a parent names their child Dolt? Can you imagine Dolt's early childhood? Can you imagine what it must've been like having Dolt as a classmate? “Hey Dolt, how much is 2 plus 2? “Hey fool, come up here and clean the chalkboard.” Or taking the daily roll call, “Is stupid here today?” Every interaction with other people that involve mentioning first names and Nabal is reminded that his parents thought he was stupid. This doesn't excuse his actions, but it sure helps explain why he grew up to be, “ harsh and evil in his doings.” (v3) Words matter! Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me is a lie! Parents be very careful about the messages you send to your children in your words and actions toward them. Do not say or do things to them that will foster anger and frustration in them. Eph 6:4 says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger.” You know that Proverb that says, Pr 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And even when he is old he will not depart from it.” That doesn't just apply to good training. “Intimating that your children are stupid is bad training that will produce bad fruit. Father, help us to learn to build our children up rather than tear them down. Give us wisdom in raising the children you have gifted us with.