Love and Faithfulness

(Proverbs 3: 3, 4)

 ³ Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
   bind them around your neck,
   write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name
   in the sight of God and man.

Love and faithfulness. Two beautiful words that make me think of a beautiful marriage, one where love is strong and both partners are faithful. For me, the knowledge that my spouse loves me and is faithful to me is the wellspring from which happiness flows. Whether we are the giver or the receiver, love and faithfulness is a blessing that produces good things in our lives. (of course the lack of either produces the opposite)

Our model for true love and faithfulness is found in God, our Father. Throughout history, God has demonstrated His love toward man and His faithfulness in that relationship. An example is His dealing with the children of Israel in the Egypt and in the wilderness. Even in their unfaithfulness, He remained faithful. His love for them would not allow them to remain slaves and so He sent someone to rescue them. His dealings with us are exactly the same. While we were bound as slaves to sin, He sent a Savior to rescue us. (Romans 5:8)

Many translations render "love" as "mercy or kindness". The original Hebrew word is "Checed" and carries the idea of loving-kindness or goodness. Both mercy and kindness are the outward expression of love. As God's child, my conduct towards others should be framed with mercy and kindness. While others might approach a situation with a condemning attitude, we are to use goodness and kindness in our dealings. This is a reflection of the mercy which we have received. "Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." (1 Peter 2:10) When we display acts of mercy toward others, God loving-kindness is demonstrated in our lives. Our willingness to show mercy to others will have eternal benefits, check out James 2:12-14.

Many translators give us "truth" instead of "faithfulness". The Hebrew word is 'emeth which carries the idea of firmness, faithfulness, truth, sureness and reliability. To be sure, faithfulness is based upon truth and nothing else. How can I be faithful and at the same time not be truthful? And how can I have faith if it is not based on truth? "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ". (Romans 10:17) Any faith that is not based upon truth is not true faith at all.

So we have mercy and truth and the idea that we are to hold onto them and never allow them to leave us. We are to "bind" them around our necks. A "necklace" that others can see. God's mercy and truth active in our lives that others will see and glorify Him. While the world is busy with hatred and jealousy, lies and deceit, God's man or woman is to wear a necklace of love and faithfulness. God wants the evidence of His involvement in our lives to seen by others like a beautiful jewel in a golden setting around our necks.

Next we are instructed to "write them on the tablet of our hearts". The outside is a reflection of the inside. We might be able to "fool some of the people some of the time", but God sees the heart and knows the motives of man. (Proverbs 16: 2) God wants mercy and truth to be etched on our hearts in such a way that they can never be erased. It is easy to be kind when we feel like it. It is easy to tell the truth when those that we are speaking to agree with us. A consistent life of mercy and faithfulness will only come when our hearts are changed. We will ultimately live how our hearts direct us to live. Who we are at our core is who we are.

Romans 12: 2 tells us to "no longer conform to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds". Transformation is possible when we allow God's word to renew our minds. Our hearts must be transformed. Bitterness, jealousy, condemnation and hatred can only be erased and replaced by the Master's hand as His word works to change us from the inside out.

When we live out God's mercy and truth, people will see it and we are promised "favor and a good name in the sight of God and man." People will see the beauty of the necklace and we get the benefit of a good name. God will see our hearts and we get His favor. That, my friends is a great deal. We get the benefit of a life lived as God would have us live and the promise of blessings from man and God.

My prayer is that "love and faithfulness" will never depart from you. That your life and mine will reflect the love and kindness, the faithfulness and truth which only comes through a true relationship with the Father through the free gift of the Son.