Proverbs 15:20 · World English Bible
Proverbs 15:20 Meaning A Wise Son Makes a Father Glad
A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish man despises his mother.
What does Proverbs 15:20 mean?
Every mind carries within it both a source it came from and the choice of how to regard that source, and its gladness or its scorn falls back upon itself. The mind that chooses wisdom honors its origin and shares in that joy, for to bless where one comes from is to remember one's own innocence.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
Proverbs 15:20 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
Every mind carries within it both a source it came from and the choice of how to regard that source, and its gladness or its scorn falls back upon itself. The mind that chooses wisdom honors its origin and shares in that joy, for to bless where one comes from is to remember one's own innocence. But the mind that chooses foolishness turns on the very love that gave it life, and in despising its source it wounds only itself, since the contempt it throws outward is guilt it refuses to lay down.
How a mind treats what it came from is how it treats itself. Honor that source and joy returns to the one honoring; despise it and the injury lands at home, because there is finally only one mind choosing here between love and attack.
Wise son: the mind that chooses to remember its loving source, the self whose reverence returns to it as joy Glad father: the origin of love a mind came from, the source that shares its gladness with the one who honors it Mother: the wellspring of love that gave the mind its life, the source a fearful self scorns and, in scorning, wounds only itself
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Live Proverbs 15:20 today
- Think of one person who shaped you, a parent, a grandparent, a teacher, and let yourself remember one specific good thing they did. Sit with it for a minute instead of scrolling past it.
- Send a short text to someone you came from, no occasion needed. Just say you were thinking of them and name one thing you are grateful for.
- When old family frustration flares up, at dinner, on a phone call, in the family group chat, pause before the sharp line leaves your mouth. Ask yourself whether saying it will cost you more than keeping it.
Where does my own peace quietly depend on how I speak about the people who raised me?
The same truth in other traditions
Confucius · Analects
To care well for the ones who raised you is not a side duty, it is the root from which every other kindness grows. A person who cuts that root rarely treats anyone well.
Tao Te Ching
Whatever returns to its source finds rest. To know where you came from and bow to it is to be at peace with yourself.
Buddhism · Dhammapada
What you send out comes back and lands in your own hands. Scorn thrown at another settles first in the one who threw it.
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