Sincerity in a person has always meant the world to me. I treasure and appreciate someone who is sincere. Sincerity is an intrinsic genuineness and honesty that can be sensed, felt and tasted. You just know when someone is sincere in their love, encouragement, and even in a loving reproof.

Sincerity is defined as: genuineness; honesty; the quality of being open and truthful; freedom from deceit, hypocrisy, or duplicity.

Sincerity is a character trait I value because it springs from realness, from purity, transparency and truthfulness.

“Slaves, obey our masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is one you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.” Colossi ans 3:22

“With sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord” has been my e-mail “signature” for quite some time now. It speaks of the genuine intent of my heart toward the Lord. Some moments when I am wandering in the flesh, my sincerity and reverence are traded in temporarily for cheaper, ugly and unsatisfying fleshly substitutes. He always gently brings me back to Him, and the sincerity and reverence of my heart are polished up and beautifully restored. I always want my heart to be humbly postured in sincerity and reverence for Him.

When I have time to squeak in some leisurely reading (i.e. school car line, waiting rooms, etc.), I’ve been slowly going through a good book by Lisa Whittle titled “Behind Those Eyes — What Really Goes On Inside The Souls of Women“. I was waiting in doctors’ offices yesterday and had the opportunity to read through a few more chapters. Here are excerpts I loved:

We can’t always wear our hearts on our sleeves, and it’s not always appropriate to share our personal struggles in public situations [or on blogs — my addition], but it is also refreshing to hear from a sincere person who desires to be real.

But we still pretend. It’s just less complicated, really. Impersonating a superspiritual person fluent in Christianese stops the intimacy of a face-to face conversation with someone. But it can prevent other things, too. It can stifle tears that need to flow, hands that need to be raised, prayers that need to be prayed, and decisions that need to be made. We trade reputation for repentance, and it costs us a lot. It costs us an intimacy that is sweet, both with our heavenly Father and our earthly family of God. It is a hard habit to break and can be a humbling experience.

Fortunately for all of us, spiritual perfection is not a requirement to faith in Jesus Christ. Were it so, I would have long ago been disqualified.

Though we seek it, our lack of spiritual perfection may be the best thing in the world for us since it reminds us that we are absolutely nothing without Christ.

God’s original plan was not for us to prove to Him that we love Him by performing to the best of our spiritual abilities. Rather, He is seeking today what He has always been interested in getting from us: a relationship with Him that is pure of heart and motive, the only goal in mind being to honor Him by doing His Will.

Sincerity…refreshing realness…don’t trade repentance for reputation…a relationship with Him that is pure of heart and motive…honor Him by doing His will.

Whoo–eee! I was blessed reading this. It refreshed my heart and confirmed to me how precious and valuable genuineness and sincerity are. Love must be sincere.