Proverbs 3:3

Proverbs 3:3 (NIV)
Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.

Proverbs 3:3 says that two things should never leave us: love and faithfulness.

The Bible addresses Love quite often, probably most famously in the "Love passage", 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, which states:
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Verse 13 wraps up the whole of chapter 13 with this simple, but poignant, statement:
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Faithful is defined as
1. Adhering firmly and devotedly, as to a person, cause, or idea; loyal.
2. Having or full of faith.
3. Worthy of trust or belief; reliable.

Synonyms: faithful, loyal, true, constant, fast, steadfast, staunch
These adjectives mean adhering firmly and devotedly to someone or something that elicits or demands one's fidelity. Faithful suggests undeviating attachment.

Faithfulness (noun): loyalty, devotion, fidelity, constancy, dependability, trustworthiness, fealty, adherence

Faithfulness is a very strong word-it indicates that I will follow my Lord, never deviating or stepping to the side. I once heard a sermon at church in which the pastor talked about standing upright and walking straight ahead. This pastor stated that he knows why the Bible says not to step to the side at all-if one stands straight under the sun, there is no shadow, only Light-but as soon as you step to one side, a shadow is cast to the side of your body-the Light is no longer shining straight down upon you. I need to strive to always walk straight so that my actions cast no shadow, or prevent others from witnessing the Light. With a definition and synonyms that include the words constant, worthy, devotedly, dependability, and trustworthiness, the word faithfulness is well chosen and meaningful. I can be faithful to God by starting every day out asking that I do His will, and praying that He will help me to show his Godly Love to others that I come into contact with during my day (including, and especially, my family). I know, for myself, that I need to start every day anew. Some days I go to bed and think that I did a terrible job, but that just gives me the fire to start the next day over and do better. I also try to stop several times during the day to make sure that I am on track. If I am not, I say a silent prayer and try to redirect myself.

I love the words "bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." The 'tablet of your heart' just strikes me as such a beautiful visual! I know that I can "write" these things "on the tablet of my heart" by memorizing scripture and learning more about His word so that I am better able to put it into practice in my own life. If I can draw these things from memory in times of confusion or times where I find I am slipping off track, it helps me to be able to meditate on them within, rather than having to pull out a Bible and search for a comforting or guiding verse, which can be distracting, and can take a while if I don't know what I am looking for.

I want to be worthy of His trust, full of faith, and adhering to His word constantly and devotedly. The only way I can do these things is to learn the word and meditate on it often, and put it into practice in my life.

Psalm 119:11 says:
I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.

Psalm 119:97 states:
Oh, how I love your law!
I meditate on it all day long.

These are verses that are inspiring to me. I know that it is my duty to not only hide His word in my heart, but my children's as well. I also know from experience that on the days that I meditate on His word, I am a much happier person and a better steward of His Love. This year I am making it a goal for my family to learn one verse per week. My little girls will be starting with four verses about Kindness so that they can earn their Little Keepers Kindness Bible Memory badge. I think I will start with this verse (Proverbs 3:3) for me, and continue working my way through Proverbs for my own study. Goodness knows I could use the wisdom contained in this book!

Proverbs

I have been going through the book of Proverbs, and writing down verses that I feel particularly pertain to me. There are some nice ones about learning the word of God, and there are some really inspiring ones about taking good care of my household, but, embarassingly enough, the ones I write down the most are always the ones about keeping my mouth shut.

I have the WORST problem with talking and gabbing-it's just terrible. I can never keep anything short and to the point. In my defense, I grew up in a family of pushy old gabby ladies from back East. Get them all in a room together and it's really hard to get a word in edgewise! (Especially if you don't have a high pitched voice of authority with a thick back east accent.) In order to get into the conversations, you basically just had to butt right in and take over-which I learned how to do. I remember once, my mom said something about "Don't interrupt your great aunts, Cari!" To which [great] Aunt Caroline replied "Well Geez, Sha, how else is she gonna get ta talk around heah?" (Translation: For goodness sake, Cheryl, how else will she be able to talk? We never leave an opening for anyone!)

Yeah, my whole family has the gift 'o' gab, and in my family dynamic it is ok, and considered sociable. Unfortunately, interrupting and talking constantly is a hard thing to turn off, and it is not really nice in polite society. As I am growing in my faith I am realizing that there is a kinder, gentler way for me to be, and I want to work on that. As a result of this, I have been writing down these proverbs, to meditate on when I feel like I need to be more prudent in my speech. (Read: constantly.) It is not happening overnight, but as I "hide His word in my heart", I know it will bring me growth.

This year, I plan on occasionally taking a verse from Proverbs that calls to me and meditating on it in my journal. This will be kind of personal, but I think it will really bring me some growth. Not all of the verses will be about keeping quiet, but I have a feeling quite a few of them will be. :)