The Telltale Heart of Youth Text: Proverbs 20:11
Introduction: Actions Speak Louder Than Feelings
We live in an age that is besotted with interior decorating. I am not talking about furniture and curtains, but rather the modern obsession with the internal landscape of feelings, intentions, and self-perception. Our therapeutic culture has taught us to ask, not "What did you do?" but "How do you feel about what you did?" or even better, "What is your truth?" The highest virtue is authenticity, which usually means being true to your own shifting desires. But the wisdom of God, distilled for us in the book of Proverbs, cuts through this sentimental fog with a sharp and bracing realism. God is not nearly as interested in your professed intentions as He is in your actual deeds. He is the ultimate empiricist.
This is particularly true when it comes to the training and evaluation of the young. We are told that children are inscrutable mysteries, that their hearts are delicate ecosystems we must not disturb, and that to judge them by their behavior is somehow brutish and unenlightened. We are encouraged to look past the insolent talk, the lazy habits, the dishonest actions, and to somehow divine the "real" child underneath, the one who is struggling to express his true, good self. This is not just folly; it is a damnable lie. It is the serpent's old hiss, whispering that the external world of obedience and disobedience is not what truly matters.
The book of Proverbs is given to us to equip us for wise living in the real world, the world that God made and governs. It is intensely practical. And our text today provides a diagnostic tool that is as simple as it is profound. It tells us how to know what is actually going on with a young person. It is not a mystery. You do not need a degree in psychology. You need eyes to see and a mind that submits to the plain teaching of Scripture. God has given us a clear test, a public standard. A young man's character is not hidden in some deep, inaccessible vault; it is placarded on the public bulletin board of his daily life.
The Text
It is by his deeds that a young man makes himself known
If his conduct is pure and right.
(Proverbs 20:11 LSB)
Known by Doing
The first clause lays down the fundamental principle:
"It is by his deeds that a young man makes himself known..." (Proverbs 20:11a)
The word here for "young man" can also be translated as "child" or "lad." This is not talking about a seasoned man of forty, but rather a youth, someone still in the process of formation. And the principle is that his actions are revelatory. His "doings" or "deeds" are not detached, accidental occurrences. They are the fruit that grows from the root of his heart. Jesus makes this same point with agricultural clarity: "For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush" (Luke 6:44). You don't need to perform an MRI on the tree's root system to know what kind of tree it is. You just need to look at what it produces.
This is a direct assault on the modern cult of good intentions. A young man may say he intends to clean his room. He may feel like he wants to honor his parents. He may have a sincere desire to get his schoolwork done. But if his room remains a disaster zone, if his words to his parents are disrespectful, and if his assignments are perpetually late, then his deeds are telling the true story. His actions are making him known, and what they are making known is that he is, in fact, a lazy, disrespectful, and undisciplined young man. To pretend otherwise is to call God a liar.
Notice the active role of the young man. He "makes himself known." He is the one broadcasting his character to the world. This is the foundation of responsibility. We cannot say, "The devil made me do it," or "My environment conditioned me," or "My unresolved trauma is to blame." While all those things might be factors in the struggle, the Bible insists that the individual is the actor. He is the one doing the deeds, and therefore, he is the one making himself known. This is why godly parenting involves holding children accountable for their actions, not making excuses for them. To make excuses is to rob them of their agency and, consequently, their responsibility before God.
This principle is not just for parents and teachers to apply to children. It is for the young man himself. Young man, do you want to know who you are? Don't look inside at the swirling vortex of your emotions. Don't listen to the flattering whispers of your own heart, which Jeremiah tells us is "deceitful above all things, and desperately sick" (Jeremiah 17:9). Look at your life. Look at what you do. Your deeds are a mirror. If you don't like the reflection, you cannot change it by trying to feel differently. You must repent and act differently, by the grace of God.
The Standard of Judgment
The second clause provides the standard by which these deeds are to be measured.
"If his conduct is pure and right." (Proverbs 20:11b)
The deeds do not just reveal character in a neutral way. They reveal whether the character is good or bad. The standard is not subjective. It is not whether his conduct is "authentic" or "self-expressive." The standard is objective, moral, and defined by God. Is his conduct "pure and right?"
"Pure" speaks to the internal state, the motivation. It means unmixed, clean, without hypocrisy. "Right" or "upright" speaks to the external action. It means straight, conforming to a standard, like a wall that is plumb. True righteousness, true character, is when the inside and the outside line up. The pure heart produces the right action.
This is where the gospel must come crashing in. Because if this is the standard, then every young man, and every old man for that matter, stands condemned. Who among us can say that all his conduct, all his deeds, are perfectly pure and right? None. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Our natural state is to have impure hearts that produce unrighteous deeds. Foolishness, as another proverb says, is bound in the heart of a child (Proverbs 22:15).
Therefore, this proverb is not a ladder for a young man to climb to heaven through his good behavior. It is a diagnostic tool that should drive him to despair of his own righteousness and lead him to Christ. It is only through the gospel that a person can be made truly "pure and right." First, we are declared righteous in Christ. His perfect record of pure and right conduct is imputed to us by faith. This is justification. We are given a new heart, a heart that is washed and made pure by the Holy Spirit. This is regeneration.
But it doesn't stop there. The Holy Spirit then begins a lifelong work of making our actual, practical conduct increasingly pure and right. This is sanctification. And this is where the proverb finds its ultimate application for the Christian. For the young Christian man, his deeds make known the progress of his sanctification. They reveal whether he is cooperating with the Spirit or quenching the Spirit. They show whether the grace of God in his life is producing real, tangible fruit in the form of pure and right conduct.
Conclusion: The Gospel Produces Doers
So, we must reject the two errors that constantly assault the church. The first is the error of legalism, which sees this proverb and says, "There you have it. Be a good boy, do good things, and God will be pleased with you." This is a Christless dead end that leads only to pride or despair.
The second error is the error of antinomianism, or what we might call "gospel-ish" sentimentality. This error sees the proverb and says, "That's Old Testament stuff. We are under grace. What matters is that a young man knows he is loved and accepted by Jesus. His actual behavior is secondary." This is a cheap grace that produces lazy, self-indulgent, and ultimately useless Christians. It is a betrayal of the gospel.
The true gospel holds both truths in tension. We are saved not by our deeds, but by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. And the grace that saves us is a grace that transforms us. It takes rebels and begins to make them into obedient sons. It takes impure hearts and begins to make them pure. It takes crooked lives and begins to make them right.
Parents, teach this to your children. Judge them by their actions, because God does. Discipline them when their conduct is not pure and right, and point them constantly to the cross where they can find forgiveness for their failures and the power to change. Young men, take this proverb to heart. Examine your deeds. Let them drive you to Christ, and then, in Christ, dedicate yourself to a life of deeds that are pure and right, not to earn your salvation, but to make known the glorious reality of the salvation you have been given. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10). Your deeds will tell the story. By the grace of God, make it a good one.