Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have
sincere love for your brothers, love one another earnestly, from the heart. 1Pet. 1:22
To be sincere means to be incapable of:
faking (to pretend feeling or knowledge),
posturing (swagger, bravado, exaggerated behavior),
pretense (make-believe, façade),
dishonesty (fraudulence, trickery),
lying (two-faced, double-dealing, double-standards, hypocrisy),
guile (cunning or deceitfulness),
subterfuge (something designed to deceive, bluffing),
feigning (to copy somebody or something, shamming)
Let’s examine these definitions and honestly ask this tough question:
In my relationships right now, am I practicing “sincere love”?
(Am I practicing a fervently sincere love that comes from my innermost being where His Spirit resides?)
Or
Is my love for “difficult so-n-so” more of an act?
(An act generated from a heart motive endeavoring to promote OR protect itself?)
In general, little children are incapable of pretense or posturing. (That’s why their blatant observations are so refreshing!) It’s no wonder Jesus says, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven… Let the children come to Me… For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.” Matt. 18:3; Lk. 18:16
It’s not enough to “act kind and loving”. God exhorts that our love for others must be sincere. Rom. 12:8
Embracing His all-sufficient love this week,
Shaun and Betsy
