Life Qualities

What qualities define you as a person? Have you ever thought about that? Proverbs 3:3 says, “Do not let mercy and kindness and truth leave you [instead let these qualities define you]; Bind them [securely] around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart” (AMP). Mercy is listed first as a quality that should define you because it is about loving people the way God loves them. It’s showing compassion when it’s inconvenient or you don’t feel they deserve it. I believe it is the foundation for godly character in our lives. It’s something we all want given to us and we need to get better at showing it to others.

Next up is kindness in this list. Galatians 5 includes this in the Fruits of the Spirit. This type of kindness isn’t just about being nice to others. It’s about a sacrificial choice to act out of the benefit of others. Kindness seeks ways to lift burdens off of other people. It finds a way to be tender even when you have every right to be angry. Godly kindness values people and makes them feel seen. I believe it is the visible expression of mercy. Remember, Romans 2:4 even says that it’s God’s kindness that draws people to repentance. The kindness God wants to produce in our lives will point people to Him.

Finally it mentions truth. It is the consistency in your character that lives out what you say you believe. It anchors mercy and kindness to our lives. It’s the doorway to spiritual and emotional freedom. There’s a reason that the Bible wants these bound around our neck. It’s so they are visible to others in our lives. That is the outcome of writing them on our heart. Once they become part of who we are at a heart level, they will be expressed in our lives. God’s desire is that these become so ingrained in our lives that He is seen and felt by other through you. Which one of these is strongest in your life, and which do you need to be producing more of?

Photo by Andrey Strizhkov on Unsplash