Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

— Proverbs 3:3

I remember hearing a popular Christian speaker ask his audience if their lives would look any different if they had “Christian” tattooed on their foreheads.

Similarly, what if you had a scarf around your neck that had “Love” and “Faithfulness” written on it? Or a T-shirt with those words on it? Would it change anything about the way you lived?

Scripture does not shy away from urging us to keep the commands of God in focus. Moses taught the Israelites, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart . . . soul and . . . strength. These commandments . . . are to be on your hearts. . . . Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:5-9).

Humans are incredibly forgetful, and the Spirit knows how often we neglect to focus our hearts and minds on the Lord. We often seek the wisdom of the world before we seek the wisdom of God.

Galatians 5 lists love and faithfulness with the fruit of the Spirit, who calls us to live like Jesus. Jesus always showed these characteristics. As we engrave love and faithfulness on our hearts, we will grow more open to being led by the Spirit before being led by anything else.

What might help you today as a symbol or reminder of God’s love and faithfulness?

Spirit of God, guide me to write your virtues and your will on my heart, that I may follow Jesus. Amen.