Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 22:15 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: World English Bible — Catholic Edition
" Folly is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of discipline drives it far from him. "
Proverbs 22:15
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the streets!”
14 The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit. He who is under the LORD’s wrath will fall into it.
15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
16 Whoever oppresses the poor for his own increase and whoever gives to the rich, both come to poverty.
17 Turn your ear, and listen to the words of the wise. Apply your heart to my teaching.
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Here are two very sad truths. First, corruption is woven into our nature. Sin is foolishness because it goes against both right reason and our true good. It lives in the heart, where there is an inward pull toward foolish speech and foolish actions. It is in children too, who come into the world with it, because we are shaped and conceived in sin.
Sin is not only found in the heart, it is tied to it. Some explain this as a close bond to the soul, so tight that sin clings to us like a graft joins to a stock and changes its nature. There is a knot between the soul and sin, a deep attachment that makes them almost one. This is true of us, and it is true of our children, whom we have fathered in our own likeness. God knows this foolishness.
Second, correction is needed to heal it. It will not be removed by gentle words alone. There must be firm discipline, even if it causes grief. Children need to be corrected and kept under discipline by their parents, and we all need the correction of our heavenly Father (Heb 12:6, Heb 12:7). Under that correction, we should put away folly and accept the rod.
From This Chapter
Proverbs 22:1
"A good name is more desirable than great riches, and loving favor is better than silver and gold."
Proverbs 22:2
"The rich and the poor have this in common: The LORD is the maker of them all."
Proverbs 22:3
"A prudent man sees danger and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it."
Proverbs 22:4
"The result of humility and the fear of the LORD is wealth, honor, and life."
Proverbs 22:5
"Thorns and snares are in the path of the wicked; whoever guards his soul stays far from them."
Proverbs 22:6
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."
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