Proverbs 4:15 · World English Bible
Proverbs 4:15 Meaning Avoid It
Avoid it, and don’t pass by it. Turn from it, and pass on.
What does Proverbs 4:15 mean?
The urgency here is the urgency of not dwelling on a grievance. A mind can turn a wound over and over, revisiting the injury, rehearsing the case against the one who caused it, and each return keeps the guilt alive and the world threatening.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
Proverbs 4:15 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
The urgency here is the urgency of not dwelling on a grievance. A mind can turn a wound over and over, revisiting the injury, rehearsing the case against the one who caused it, and each return keeps the guilt alive and the world threatening. The counsel is not to fight the thought but to decline it, to refuse even to linger where attack seems reasonable.
Turning away is forgiveness in motion, the quiet withdrawal of attention from what fear offers. A mind does not defeat the grievance; it simply stops choosing it, and walks on toward the brother it would rather see as innocent.
Christian Psychology lensGo deeper in the app
Christian Psychology lens
Live Proverbs 4:15 today
- When the argument starts replaying in your head today, do not argue back with it. Stand up, change rooms, put on music, and let the scene go unwatched.
- Do not reread the message that hurt you. Leave it closed, and if someone asks you to retell the story, give the short version and move on.
- If a meeting or a call leaves you stung, set a limit before you start the drive home: five minutes to feel it, then the radio on. Dwelling is a choice you can decline.
What am I going back to visit that I could simply walk past?
The same truth in other traditions
Buddhism · Dhammapada
Hatred is never ended by hatred; it is ended only by letting it go. The grudge stops where someone declines to carry it further.
Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius
He wrote that you can choose to have no opinion about a thing, and then be undisturbed by it. Withdraw consent and the grievance has nowhere to stand.
Taoism · Chuang Tzu
If an empty boat drifts into yours, no anger comes; it is the person you imagine steering it that makes you shout. Stop filling the boat and there is nothing to turn over.
Free · No account needed
Read all of Proverbs 4 through 17 lenses
Lensightful opens every verse of the Bible through the traditions you choose. Save readings, ask a follow-up question, and get one verse a day.
Get Lensightful on the App Store