{"id":6423,"date":"2022-08-27T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-27T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=6423"},"modified":"2022-07-13T06:15:20","modified_gmt":"2022-07-13T11:15:20","slug":"sincerity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2022\/08\/27\/sincerity\/","title":{"rendered":"SINCERITY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2 minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Daily Reading: <\/strong>Job 23:1-27:23 ESV,<\/a> 2 Corinthians 1:12-2:11 ESV<\/a>, Psalm 41:1-13 ESV<\/a>, Proverbs 22:5-6 ESV<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily Verse: <\/strong>\u201cFor our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity<\/em>, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.\u201d (2 Corinthians 1:12 ESV<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EILIKRINEIA (1505): <\/strong>\u201cDenotes \u201csincerity, purity\u201d; it is described metaphorically in 1 Cor 5:8 as \u201cunleavened (bread); in 2 Cor 1:12, \u201c(godly) sincerity,\u201d it describes a quality possessed by God, as that which is to characterize the conduct of believers.\u201d[i]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Godly conduct.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul, accused of acting insincerely by the Corinthians, responds the only way he can.  Charged with showing worldly shrewdness in his letters, Paul asks them to look at his actions.  God motivates the apostles\u2019 movements, giving Paul purity of intention, governed by Christ\u2019s grace.  Actions do speak louder than words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this world, people will accuse you of many things.  As a Christ-follower, expect harsh judgment from both believers and non-believers.  One lady I served with on church staff didn\u2019t think \u201cher Jesus loving friend was acting like Jesus\u201d because I didn\u2019t do what she wanted me to do.  I missed the memo of her promotion to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flittering sparrow.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When people falsely accuse you of misdeeds, Godly sincerity becomes evident in your actions.  Instead of responding to my friend\u2019s cruel words, I let my actions speak for themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight.\u201d (Proverbs 26:2 ESV<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following Christ puts you under the microscope.\u00a0 People love to find reasons not to submit to God.\u00a0 Like a fish swimming in a bowl, people watch for you to fall, holding faults they find against you. Where Christ offers grace, people provide judgment.\u00a0 Do the best you can, trusting God\u2019s promise:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.\u201d (Romans 8:28 ESV<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Godly sincerity means doing your best with what the good Lord gives you.  When you falter, own your mistakes and trust God will use them to further the kingdom.  Success doesn\u2019t come without failure.  Our weaknesses highlight God\u2019s strength.  We can do all things in Christ, including standing firm in the face of wrong judgments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[i]<\/a> Strong, J., & Strong, J. (2010). The New Strong’s expanded exhaustive concordance of the Bible<\/em>. Greek Dictionary of the New Testament<\/em> (p. 77) Thomas Nelson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check out my new release on Amazon<\/a>. Learn how I used prayer to control my emotions and develop healthier relationships in my life. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2 minute read. Daily Reading: Job 23:1-27:23 ESV, 2 Corinthians 1:12-2:11 ESV, Psalm 41:1-13 ESV, Proverbs 22:5-6 ESV Daily Verse: \u201cFor our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.\u201d (2 Corinthians 1:12… Continue reading SINCERITY<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6423"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6434,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6423\/revisions\/6434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}