Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth;
    an outsider, and not your own lips.

She was a young girl: just a teenager in our Sunday school in Leeds. One day I was commending her on something or other. I forget what it was, but she was a brilliant and shining star among our young people at the time. She fixed me with a serious stare, as only she could, and quoted the above proverb. What wisdom, what maturity; not to mention Biblical knowledge from this young teen.

At the end of chapter 26 we saw that charm can disguise malicious intent, and how some people employ flattery to get their way. But it is a good use of the tongue to encourage another. Nevertheless, my young friend was correct: we are not to boast of ourselves.