Proverbs 3:3-4  “Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.  So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man.”

Most often we take a look at Proverbs 3:5-6.  We really like these verses because they speak of how if we trust the Lord, He will straighten our paths.  They are fantastic verses.  But look at the previous two verses. 

Importance of kindness and truth

Kindness and truth is essential to finding favor and being of good reputation in the eyes of God and men.  Why?  Ephesians 4:15 says that we are to speak the truth in love.  Notice how truth is preceded in both of these verses by love and kindness. 

Our culture agrees with these verses only in the backwards sense.  Our culture says that you should always speak the truth because that is loving.  It does not say to speak the truth in love.  If you tell a person that they are stupid, ugly, and mean, you are seen as being brave for speaking the truth to them.  You are seen as a revolutionary for telling someone what you think with no concern for their feelings or hurting someone else.  When this is said, the intention is to hurt someone else and/or make you feel better.

The opposite is true of Bible following believers.  When speaking the truth, the point is not to hurt someone else and/or make you feel better, the point is to bring people to Christ and a God-honoring life. 

There is two ways to take the advice of these verses:

1. As the person who must deliver a hard truth to a friend or fellow student.

     a. You FIRST must be in prayer before you confront that person.  You must pray not only that you are doing this out of a loving kind heart to see this person be all that they can be for the glory of God, but that you will come across as loving and kind during your conversation.  You SECONDLY need to ask questions of the person you are talking to.  As a rule, accusations stir up the accused, questions difuse arguments.  Ask questions to get to the truth of the matter.   You cannot judge their heart or motives so ask what they were thinking when they said or did such and such.

2. As the person who will receive a hard truth to hear.

     a.  You FIRST must look at the evidence presented and evaluate your life to see if what is being presented is true.  It is your first fleshly (sinful)  instinct to be defensive and assume that you could never be wrong and the person talking to you has to be in the wrong.  You SECONDLY must not immediately take care of the issue.  If the person bringing the evidence is right, you must ask for forgiveness to God and whoever else was involved.  If the person bringing the evidence is wrong, you must go to that person and kindly in love tell them the truth of why you said what you said or did what you did.

They importance in binding kindness and truth to your life, is that you will find favor with God and man.  This is true, because when kindness and truth are used together, friendships can be restored.  You will be respected by others.  And you are following God’s Word.

Challenge: Let kindness always precede truth in your responses to siblings, parents, friends, or teachers.