Proverbs 17:25 · World English Bible
Proverbs 17:25 Meaning A Foolish Son Brings Grief
A foolish son brings grief to his father, and bitterness to her who bore him.
What does Proverbs 17:25 mean?
Foolishness in the mind is the choice of separation, and it wounds both the strength and the tenderness within that would have guided it home. The part that stands firm feels the ache of a self that has turned toward fear, and the part that would enfold and comfort tastes only bitterness where love was ready to be given.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
Proverbs 17:25 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
Foolishness in the mind is the choice of separation, and it wounds both the strength and the tenderness within that would have guided it home. The part that stands firm feels the ache of a self that has turned toward fear, and the part that would enfold and comfort tastes only bitterness where love was ready to be given.
Yet this grief is not a verdict. It is the mind's own longing signaling that it has wandered, and the sorrow softens the instant the wandering ends. Nothing was lost but a moment of forgetting, and the strength and gentleness that seemed grieved were only waiting to welcome the mind back.
Son: the part of the mind that has chosen separation, the wanderer who mistook fear for a teacher and can turn again toward love Father: the part of the mind that stands in quiet strength, the firm and steady love that aches when the mind turns from it Mother: the tenderness within that would comfort and hold, the gentleness that tastes bitterness only because it was ready to give
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Live Proverbs 17:25 today
- If you have been hard on yourself about one bad decision, say out loud that it was a wrong turn, not a life sentence. Then do the next small thing that points back the right way.
- Text the person you have drifted from, not to explain or defend, just to say you were thinking of them. The ache you have been carrying is the part of you that still wants them close.
- When someone in your family or team does the foolish thing again and you feel that familiar tightness, let the first thing out of your mouth be a question instead of a verdict. Keep the door open, even if you say the hard thing after.
Who are you still grieving over, when what you actually want is to welcome them back?
The same truth in other traditions
Buddhism · Dhammapada
From endearment springs grief, and from endearment springs fear. The ache you feel for another's straying is the price of holding them dear.
Stoicism · Epictetus
When someone acts badly, remember they are acting from what seems true to them. Grieve their error if you must, but do not treat it as a permanent verdict on who they are.
Judaism · Midrash
The gates of return are never locked. The one who turns back is not greeted with a ledger but with a welcome.
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