Put Crooked Speech Away From You
Put away crooked speech from your mouth, and keep deceitful lips far from you.
Have I kept small lies and twisted words as a habit, telling myself 'that much is fine'?
📝Reflection
If the previous verse said to guard the heart, this one says to guard the channel through which the heart first leaks — the mouth. Speech is the heart's teller window. Speak crookedly often enough and the heart hardens into that shape. Small lies, slightly twisted phrasings, words that leave others confused feel convenient now but slowly gnaw at the capital called trust. Confucius, too, said to make one's words truthful and trustworthy. Practicing straight speech is, in the end, practicing to guard a straight heart. Only when the mouth stays upright does the heart remain upright.
🌱Apply It Today
Today, when a 'this much exaggeration is fine' remark rises, straighten it just once before you say it.
This verse is read as universal humanistic wisdom, not religion — no faith is promoted, and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
