Mid-century illustration of a tree planted by a pool of water on a path

Proverbs 14:35 · World English Bible

Proverbs 14:35 Meaning The King’s Favor Is Toward a Servant

The king’s favor is toward a servant who deals wisely, but his wrath is toward one who causes shame.

What does Proverbs 14:35 mean?

Within every mind two teachers wait to be chosen, and each meets a different response because each brings forth a different self. The part that serves wisely, that lets love guide its thought, is met with welcome, drawing near to the ruling truth and resting in its favor.

From the Christian Psychology reading below.

Proverbs 14:35 through 1 lens

The same verse, read by one tradition.

CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Christian Psychology

Within every mind two teachers wait to be chosen, and each meets a different response because each brings forth a different self. The part that serves wisely, that lets love guide its thought, is met with welcome, drawing near to the ruling truth and resting in its favor. This is not a reward earned by good behavior but the natural closeness of a mind aligned with what is real.

What brings shame is the ego's work, the thought that attacks and divides and then dreads the consequence of its own attack. The wrath it fears is not sent from above; it is guilt returning to its source, the mind flinching from what it taught itself. A self that chooses the wiser servant within finds no anger waiting, only the peace of having listened to love.

King: the ruling truth within the mind, the loving authority a self draws near to or hides from by its choice of teacher Servant: the part of the mind that listens to love and acts on it, welcomed home for aligning with what is real

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Live Proverbs 14:35 today

  1. When you catch yourself rehearsing a grudge in the shower or in the car, name which voice you are listening to, the one that wants to be at peace or the one that wants to be right. Then pick again.
  2. In one conversation today, maybe with a coworker or your partner, answer from the calmer part of you instead of the quick part. You will feel the difference in your chest before you hear it in your voice.
  3. When someone's message lands wrong and your face gets hot, wait until the heat passes before you reply. What you dread is usually the echo of what you were about to say.

Which of the two voices in me has been doing most of the talking lately?

The same truth in other traditions

Bhagavad Gita

Two urges live in one person, one lifting toward clarity and one pulling toward grasping, and what a life becomes follows whichever one it keeps feeding.

Buddhism · Dhammapada

No enemy does you the harm an untrained mind does, and no friend does you the good a trained one does. The consequence is not sent to you, it grows from the seed you planted.

Stoicism · Epictetus

Nothing outside you hands out reward or punishment. The part of you that judges rightly is already at ease, and the part that grabs and blames is already uneasy.

Mid-century illustration of Jesus teaching the crowd on a hillside above the sea

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