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PROGRAM D-8042
We’re exploring five principles for living from Proverbs 3 and the incredible benefits that are ours when we apply these principles to our lives. Remember that proverbs are not promises, but they are principles—principles that hold true almost all the time. So, let’s consider the second principle from verses 3 and 4 of Proverbs 3:
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. (Proverbs 3:3-4)
Solomon uses a word picture here to help us understand how to implement these truths. He says to bind love and faithfulness around your neck and to write them on the tablet of your heart. I picture wearing love and faithfulness like a necklace or a scarf, bound around my neck so that I don’t forget how important it is to be loving and faithful.
Love and faithfulness are two characteristics that are truly beautiful. When you are a loving person, you show compassion and mercy to people around you—even people who aren’t living the way they should, and people who don’t do their work like they should. The Bible teaches us that love never fails—love never fails to change a situation, improve a relationship, and soften a heart. When you show God’s love to others in practical ways—by being patient, kind, and forgiving—you have bound it around your neck, and it’s beautiful.
Faithfulness seems to be lacking a lot these days, have you noticed? It seems that often people just don’t live up to what they promised or follow-through on commitments they’ve made. We read in 1 Corinthians 4:2 that “it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” Ask yourself, do you wear faithfulness around your neck? Are you a person who can be counted on—at work, at church, and in your family?
With love and faithfulness written on your heart, you will win favor with people and you will have a good name—a good reputation with God and people. That’s a powerfully good reason to take this lesson for living from Proverbs very seriously, don’t you think?