Page 017 - Love and Faithfulness
*Verses from AMP
"Let not mercy and kindness [shutting out all hatred and selfishness] and truth [shutting out all deliberate hypocrisy or falsehood] forsake you; bind them about your neck, write them upon the tablet of your heart" (Amp: Proverbs 3:3).
We live in a world that is highly suspicious. It is has become difficult to trust anyone. There are so many lies floating around, so much misinformation, so many scams being perpertrated, that everyone is wondering what happened to the real McCoy. One can live in a city of millions and still feel all alone. A reaction to all this isolationism has perpetrated gang after gang. Everyone needs security and to feel they can trust and depend on someone. No wonder gangs seek true bonding in the phrase, "I got your back."
Unfortunately, the Chrisitian church over the past 2000 years, has been misled by spiritual leaders who erred, either knowingly or unknowingly, leaving in their wake believers who are angry, apathetic, disheartened, disillusioned or disengaged altogether. Yet, God never promised spiritual leaders who would be perfect. King David, who committed horrendous sins, did repent and restored himself back to the Lord, but that did not mean the children of Israel were exempted from paying a tremedous price (1 Chronicles 21:1-19).
So what should our stand be? As Christians, the Bible has always been clear. Proverbs tells us to continue in love by means of mercy and kindness and to continue in truth by means of putting away all hypocrisy and falsehood. Truly what you see should be what you get. We cannot be the judge of others, let God do this (Romans 12:19); but we must trust God will judge the church and purify it so that those who are faithful to the Lord's word will prevail (1 Peter 4:17; Revelation 3:11-13). At such times we may suffer. Nevertheless, We should never let go of lOving others and bonding with our Christian family which befits this divine summons and earnestly starts in our own homes.