Proverbs 3:3. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.
If you only learn one Hebrew word in your life it should be this one: Hesed.
He (short vowel sound) – sed. And when you pronounce the ‘H’ you have to work up a bit of phlegm from the back of your throat.
In Proverbs 3:3 the Hebrew word hesed is translated as the English words steadfast love. Sometimes hesed is translated as “mercy,” “kindness.” or just “love.” Hesed is such an important word because it describes not just love, but God’s unique divine love. God alone has hesed. Hesed is God’s covenant love for his people. His promised love. His loyal love. His steadfast, never changing love. A love that can and will never go away. Because God is in a covenant with us he will always hesed us. God’s hesed is as unchanging as God himself. Unlike our love, hesed never falters, never fails, and never forsakes.
It was hesed that sent God the Son from heaven to earth. It was hesed that sent Christ into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. It was hesed that went around doing good. Hesed healed the sick and drove out the demon. Hesed gave sight to the blind and raised the dead to life. Hesed washed the feet of the disciples.
Hesed went to hell on the cross.
Hesed has been poured into the heart of every believer in Christ. Jesus on the cross is God’s hesed on display for us, and Jesus in our hearts is God’s hesed alive in us. When you received Christ you entered into a covenant with God, the New Covenant. You now have God’s divine covenant love. His unconditional, fully committed, unbreakable love.
Christian, in Christ, God cannot not love you. In Christ, God cannot love you less than he does and he cannot love you any more than he does. It is impossible for God to give up on you. It is impossible for God to break his promises to you. It is impossible for him to not do everything that the New Covenant demands of him – every sin forgiven, every heart set free, every saint possessed by God and possessing God.
1 John 3:1-3. 1See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
To live is Christ is to live from within a divine, all-powerful, loyal, covenant love that has made us God’s children and will make us like Christ.
You: Do you ever doubt God’s love for you?
You in Christ: If you are in Christ, then you are alive in God’s hesed.How might your mindset change if you really believed in God’s unconditional love for you?
Christ in you: How can you reveal Christ’s hesed to others today? Is your love for others loyal? Faithful? Steadfast?
Pray: Father, your love for me is guaranteed in Christ. Keep your love in my heart and in my mind today, especially when life seems to say that you have forsaken me. Amen.
To Live is Christ 
Hesed is one of my favorite Hebrew words, the meaning is so deep and meaningful. Whenever I see the words, lovingkindness, mercy, love, or kindness in my bible I check Strongs to see if it was translated that way from Hesed and I highlight it. I am constantly amazed at how many references there are to it. Thank you for this post.
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