Proverbs 10:20 · World English Bible
Proverbs 10:20 Meaning The Tongue of the Righteous Is Like
The tongue of the righteous is like choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of little worth.
What does Proverbs 10:20 mean?
What a mind offers outward carries the value of the teacher behind it. When love is the guide, the smallest word is precious, because it extends something whole and asks for nothing in return, and it is worth much for the simple reason that it heals.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
Proverbs 10:20 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
What a mind offers outward carries the value of the teacher behind it. When love is the guide, the smallest word is precious, because it extends something whole and asks for nothing in return, and it is worth much for the simple reason that it heals. The frightened mind, however loudly it speaks, offers little, for guilt has nothing of value to give and can only pass along its own sense of lack.
The worth was never in the volume or the cleverness. It was in the choice. Change the teacher within and the plainest speech becomes a gift.
Tongue: the mind giving itself outward, the point where its chosen teacher becomes something a brother can receive. Heart: the inner center where the choice of teacher is actually made, the source that gives worth or withholds it.
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Christian Psychology lens
Live Proverbs 10:20 today
- Before you send the next message you are drafting, read it once and ask what is actually moving your hand, warmth or the wish to be right. If it is the second one, delete it and write the plain version.
- Say one short, unimpressive, kind thing to someone today and ask nothing back, no reply, no credit, not even a reaction. A text that says only "thought of you" counts.
- When a work thread or a group chat turns sharp and you feel the clever reply arriving, let it go unsent and answer with the dull, useful sentence instead.
Where did my words come from the last time I spoke to be admired rather than to help?
The same truth in other traditions
Tao Te Ching 81
True words are not showy and showy words are not true. What is given simply, without an eye on the giver's reputation, is the only thing that reaches anyone.
Buddhism · Right Speech
The Buddha asked that speech be timely, true, gentle and useful, and taught that the state of mind behind a sentence matters more than its cleverness. Words spoken from ill will carry ill will no matter how well arranged.
Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius
He reminded himself that the soul takes the color of its own thoughts, and that whatever a person is inwardly steeped in is what comes out of them. Tend the source and the expression follows.
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