Kindness & Truth

Proverbs 3:3 “Do you not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.”

This admonition from Scripture instructs us to keep two tangible “gems” close to us: kindness and truth.

Being a father requires both kindness and truth in raising children. Kindness encompasses goodness, deeds of devotion, and faithfulness. Truth is timeless and unwavering. It is firmness, faithfulness, and lasting. These two qualities of kindness and truth, in a sense, link arms and go walking together.

Notice how closely the fragrance of kindness and truth are to us: your neck and your heart. I know these are figures of speech. However, I think there is application for having kindness and truth very near to our senses of smell, taste, sight, and hearing (in close proximity to our neck and heart).

To only have kindness, without truth, is like a ship without a rudder. Ships without rudders lose their ability to steer the ship and thus can end up in peril upon the rocks or even sink to the bottom of the sea. Without the linking arm of truth, kindness alone is not sufficient.

These are difficult days to raise children, yet we have many examples in Scripture of children who did not waver, and remained faithful to the Lord despite the culture and their circumstance.

In 1 Samuel we are introduced to young Samuel who learned to hear God’s voice.

In 2 Kings 5:2-3 we meet an unnamed young Israelite girl taken captive who God used in the life of Naaman.

In the Book of Daniel we become acquainted with Daniel, Hananiah (Shadrach), Mishael (Meshach), and Azariah (Abednego) and their unrelenting trust in God.

May God give us the same tenacity and heart that we see exemplified in the lives of God-fearing believers. May we also impart this example and thus see it lived out in the lives of the children the Lord has put in our care.

Submitted by Pam Burton