“Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
Bind them around your neck.
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will find favor and a good name
In the sight of God and man.”
Don’t let love and faithfulness leave you! When you do a word study on love and faithfulness, you find they have similarities. They both have the element of steadfastness. The word for love means steadfast love, mercy, loving-kindness, faithfulness, goodness, devotion. The word for faithfulness means steadfast, endure, faithfulness, to be true, to trust. So in summary, the person who finds favor with God and man is the person who is loving, kind, faithful, merciful, devoted, steadfast and trustworthy. They are faithful. They are no doubt the kind of people that others want to be around because not only are they loving and kind, but they are trustworthy. They mean what they say and say what they mean. Their word is their bond. They can be counted on to fulfill their obligations. A long time ago men and women didn’t have written contracts. Their word was their creed and it was good enough! Want favor to show up in unexpected places and times? Well, I must go back to the original question, What are you becoming? Are you faithful? Do you follow through with commitments? Are you trustworthy? Can you be counted on? Do you deal with people in a loving and kind way? Do people want to be around you?
Gifts and talents are great but, without character to sustain them, they really are a flash in the pan. Steadfast character, love and faithfulness open doors for favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. What could be better than that?