What does it mean to let love and faithfulness never leave you (Proverbs 3:3)?

Answer  
  

Proverbs 3:3 gives wisdom about godly living, integrity, and virtue. The verse reads, “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.” This passage communicates the importance of embracing love and faithfulness, urging believers to integrate these virtues into their lives.  
  

To fully grasp the meaning of Proverbs 3:3, we must understand the Hebrew concepts of “love” and “faithfulness.” In the Hebrew understanding, love includes kindness, compassion, and mercy, while faithfulness signifies reliability, truth, and stability. When these terms are found together, they form a foundation for godly living, reflecting the nature of God and His expectation for our lives. Let love and faithfulness never leave us, as they are essential to maintaining a [godly life](live-life-for-God.html).  
  

For love and faithfulness to never leave us, we must make a commitment to love and faithfulness. This means that we should cultivate kindness and truth in our lives, ensuring that our actions align with the godly principles of love and faithfulness. Such a commitment requires us to go beyond superficial adherence to these principles; we can’t just pay lip service to love and faithfulness. Instead, we need a heartfelt dedication to embody love and faithfulness in every aspect of life. Let love and faithfulness never leave us, as they form the core of our daily lives.  
  

The next part of Proverbs 3:3, “Bind them around your neck,” is a powerful metaphor about the importance of love and faithfulness. By binding love and faithfulness around our necks, we make them visible like a cherished necklace. Love and faithfulness, then, should be evident in our actions and interactions with other people, a visible reminder of our commitment to these principles. Let love and faithfulness never leave us, resolving to make them visible in every aspect of our lives.  
  

Not only should we bind love and faithfulness around our necks, but we should also “write them on the tablet of \[our] hearts.” This speaks of internalizing these principles, making them an integral part of our being. As we write love and faithfulness on our hearts, we will notice a shift in our thoughts, decisions, words, and actions. A deep internalization of love and faithfulness ensures that they are not merely external acts but are deeply embedded in our souls, transforming us into godly people. Let love and faithfulness never leave us, ensuring they shape into the image of Christ.  
  

The exhortation to “let love and faithfulness never leave you” is connected to the rest of Scripture, where love and faithfulness are highlighted as essential virtues of a godly life. Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Mercy (love) and truth (faithfulness) are necessary for submission to God’s will. “Let not mercy and truth forsake you,” as the NKJV renders Proverbs 3:3, for they are essential to our [walk with God](walk-with-God.html).  
  

Proverbs 3:3 reminds believers to be committed to love and faithfulness. By encouraging us to maintain love and faithfulness, we understand the importance of embodying these virtues, internally and externally. The internal impact of love and faithfulness is a synchronization of our hearts with the heart of God, and the external impact of love and faithfulness is tangible evidence of our transformed hearts. Let love and faithfulness never us, leading to a godly life that glorifies God and seeks the good of others above our own.  
  

