Over the last few weeks, I have witnessed more and more arguing and fighting over small matters between my children – whether it be over sharing a toy, choosing a video that they all would watch, whose turn it was to do something, and even arguing with instructions given by me.  This morning, I was overjoyed when God pointed out a verse to me from His Word to share with them…

Proverbs 17:14
Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam. 
So drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

My oldest had the opportunity to practice her dictionary skills as she and the other kids wondered what some of the words meant.  We talked about what it meant to quarrel, to dispute, what a dam is, and learned about the word breached.

• quarrel: verbal disagreement between individuals or a group, to make
  complaint or find fault
• dispute: to quarrel or fight about; to quarrel angrily; to wrangle
• dam: a barrier to stop the flow of water, built across a stream or river
• breach: to break; a rupture; a gap made in a wall; a severance in friendly relations

Then I shared with them a visual…
What does a dam look like and what happens when it is breached?

A simulation of a dam breaking
Real footage of the aftermath from a dam breaking.

They were amazed that a small hole in the dam could be so powerful and have such a large effect!  Our words and how we choose to respond, act the same way.  We can choose to be peacemakers.

And of course, I couldn’t help but put the verse to a tune so we could all sing it…

Head to our Bible Memorization page and scroll down to Proverbs 17:14 for free printables!

I was so excited to get to share this with the children.  It seemed to really make sense to them.

Thank you Lord for this clear illustration from Your Word!