Prayer to Live With Sincerity In All Our Affairs
Wednesday August 12, 2020
Sincere
I don’t know about you but I get tired of watching the news sometimes – particularly those that feature politicians and pundits who are trying to address things of the day. I’m weary of what comes out of the White House in United States and reactions. We have our own share of ethics scandals and issues here in Canada don’t we and wherever you live in the world, I’m sure it wouldn’t take long for you to be able to list many events from recent days that make us wonder what we should believe and which frankly, keep us pretty suspicious and skeptical of anything we hear. I wish it weren’t that way but it is.
I was reading recently about a lovely character quality – sincerity. A sincere person is one who is honest, who doesn’t create false impressions, and who doesn’t operate with selfish motives. What you see is what you get. They do the right thing for the right reasons. They don’t have a hidden agenda.
My words come from an upright heart;
my lips sincerely speak what I know. Job 33:3
The meaning of the word sincere comes from the ancient practice of pottery making. We spoke about potters yesterday and the good work they do but in every profession there are others who are not so honest and well-intentioned.
Rocks need to be sifted out of clay or pots made from that clay have defects. Deceitful potters who were too lazy to do the sifting would fill the small holes created by the stones with wax. Later, when the buyer heated the pot, the wax would melt, and the pot would leak. Good potters, whose clay was sifted, would write on their pots “sine cera” – without wax.
This asks the question of us today, are we as genuine on the inside as we try to portray on the outside?
God wants us to know who we are in relationship with Him and then live that out with truth and grace in all our human relationships. Let’s pray about that today shall we.
The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
1 Timothy 1:5
God, we know that we need to say what we mean and mean what we say without lies or exaggerations or evasiveness. Help us today to be honest about what we think or feel – expressing ourselves with respect and politeness for sure -- but not thinking one thing and intentionally saying something else. Help us in every area of life to be sincere and to “walk the walk not just talk the talk.”
We want to live before You, God, and others with sincerity of heart. Help us to practice being honest in all our affairs and not merely seek to gain advantage for ourselves. When we are impressed with something that has been done right, help us to give a compliment with sincerity. When we have done something wrong, help us to take responsibility and apologize with sincere regret and a willingness to make things right.
With Your help God, we can live as a person of sincerity today. We want our lives to reflect these words:
Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world,
and especially in our relations with you, with integrity
and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom
but on God’s grace.
2 Corinthians 1:12
So, Heavenly Father, Please work in us today so that any character defects that would keep us from being sincere are brought to light and removed. Amen
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