Lovingkindness and Faithfulness

Here is another devotional from the Heart of the Matterbook. Read Psalm 86 first.

Share God's steadfast love and faithfulness. In the Old Testament two Hebrew words are often used to describe God: chesed and emet. Chesed is translated in the Old Testament as "lovingkindness," or "steadfast love." It means committed kindness, a chosen generosity, a resolution to do good to another person no matter what. Emet is translated as "faithfulness" or "truth." When we say of someone, "She was a true friend," we're using the word true in the sense that the Bible uses the word emet. It's someone who's looking out for your well-being, who is genuinely concerned for your welfare (Philippians 2:20). God is full of chesed and emet - steadfast love and faithfulness - toward you. Chesed and emet are also used in the Bible to describe human relationships. Most people seek their own interests, and instinctively do things that create distance and destroy intimacy in their close relationships. But when you are committed to treat someone with kindness, when you are genuinely concerned for someone else's welfare, you will start to be and do the kinds of things that actually build trust, intimacy, and companionship. Chesed and emet are what God is fundamentally like toward us. He is a God who keeps his promises, a God of kindness, a God who forgives. And chesed and emet are also the attributes you need to make your closest relationships deeply joyous and intimate.