Proverbs 25:26 · World English Bible
Proverbs 25:26 Meaning Like a Muddied Spring and a Polluted
Like a muddied spring and a polluted well, so is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.
What does Proverbs 25:26 mean?
When the part of the mind that holds to truth bows instead to fear, it does not become fear, but its clarity is muddied at the source. The strength that should pour out clean is stirred until the mind can no longer see its own reflection, and it begins to doubt whether it ever held anything pure at all.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
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The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
When the part of the mind that holds to truth bows instead to fear, it does not become fear, but its clarity is muddied at the source. The strength that should pour out clean is stirred until the mind can no longer see its own reflection, and it begins to doubt whether it ever held anything pure at all.
The damage is not real, for a spring cannot be permanently poisoned by what passes through it. But while the mind hands its power to what would attack it, it drinks from its own confusion and calls that confusion truth. The correction is simply to stop bowing, and let the water run clear again.
Fountain: the mind at its source, meant to give freely from what is undivided in it. Spring: the place where the mind's thoughts begin, clean when it draws from love, clouded when it drinks from fear.
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Live Proverbs 25:26 today
- When you catch yourself agreeing with something you do not believe just to end a tense exchange, go quiet instead of adding to it. Let the water settle before you say more.
- With one person today, say the small honest thing you would usually smooth over. Keep it kind and keep it true.
- In a meeting where the loudest voice is pulling the room, hold your actual read of the situation. You do not have to fight for it, only not abandon it.
Where have I bowed to pressure and then started believing the cloudy version?
The same truth in other traditions
Tao Te Ching 15
Muddy water clears when it is left alone and allowed to settle. Nothing was added to it and nothing was lost.
Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius
The spring inside you keeps running clean unless you keep throwing dirt into it. Stop the throwing and the water is clear again.
Buddhism
A pond stirred by wind shows no reflection, and still water shows the moon exactly. The mind is not broken when it is clouded, only moved.
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