WEDNESDAY'S WORD - SINCERITY - Sadell Bradley- 2/24/2021

WEDNESDAY'S WORD SINCERITY 2/24/2021 "Sincerity makes the very least person to be of more value than the most talented hypocrite." -Charles Spurgeon SINCERITY is the quality of being free from pretense, deceit, or hypocrisy. Let's unpack those three descriptive terms. Pretense is an attempt to make something that is not the case appear true. Deceit is the action or practice of deceiving someone by concealing or misrepresenting the truth. Hypocrisy is the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. It is rare to find someone who lives a life free from these three—it is even harder to be a person who is really sincere. Many systems and structures, even in the Church, make it difficult to live a sincere life. It seems at times that our entire culture is built on lies and shifting shadows. Two thousand years ago Jesus, choosing His disciples, said about Nathanial, "Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit." The NLT says, "Now here is a genuine son of Israel - a man of complete integrity." (John 1:47) The child's picture to the left says it all. Sincerity means to accept the truth and try to be better and to tell the truth and be honest. IS SINCERITY THE KEY TO SUCCESS? The image to the right would make one think that sincerity is a magnet for success. I wonder how true that is. The church at Galatia received the Apostle Paul well when he preached the Gospel to them—but when he told them the truth about the false teachers who were attempting to win their favor and prevent them from listening to him, they scoffed. He asked, "Have I now become your enemy because I am telling you the truth?" (Gal. 4:16) Sincerity now and then is sometimes met with resistance and even opposition. Paul instructed his protege, Timothy, "For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear." (2 Tim. 4:3) It is hard to argue against that Paul was not successful, but his success did not mean popularity. Sincerely, yours... Remember the classes where we learned to close our letters with the word 'sincerely?' Letter writing seems to be a thing of the past...and so does sincerity. We struggle to know whether or not folks are being real with us— are they telling the truth? It's even more difficult to have personally succumbed to this illusory culture to the point where you lose your sincerity. That is a miserable existence...always looking over your shoulder, waiting for the next shoe to fall, or the next lie to be revealed. Maybe it's time to return to an honest and sincere life. John wrote, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." (3 John 1:4)