“The wound religion receives from hypocrites is far more dangerous and incurable than that inflicted on it by the open and scandalous sinner. For religion is never brought into question by the enormous vices of an infamous person; all see and all abhor his sin. But when a man shall have his mouth full of piety and his hands full of wickedness, when he shall speak Scripture and live devilism, profess strictly and walk loosely, this lays a grievous stumbling-block in the way of others; and tempts them to think that all religion is a mockery, and that the professors of it are but hypocrites.” Ezekiel Hopkins (from A Puritan Golden Treasury of Quotes)
Do you ever have a certain word jump out at you as you read your Bible? Lately, the word SINCERITY has been on my mind. Sincerity is sometimes overlooked. For example, think of love in 1 Corinthians—“if I have not love, I am nothing”. The focus is on “love”, however, what SORT of love are we to have?
“Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth” Joshua 24:14
“In godly sincerity, and not with fleshly wisdom” 11 Cor. 1:12
“Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.” Ephesians 6:24
“In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity. . . . ..” Titus 2:7
(Sounds like a command to me!)
–the quality or state of being sincere : honesty of mind : freedom from hypocrisy
Sincere means: wholehearted, heartfelt, honest, pure, true, unfeigned
With the command in Scripture to be sincere, I think it is safe to assume that there are pretenders in the midst of our churches. . . . .let’s pray today that we are never numbered among them.
Christ is the One who does the work of sincerity in us, we need Him desperately! Get close to the Savior today!
“Thou the Spring of all my comfort, more than life to me!
Whom have I on earth beside thee? Whom in Heav’n but Thee?
Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry!
While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by!”
Fanny Crosby, 1820-1915
Good to be Home 
Great stuff! I love doing topical word studies. I have a KJ topical Bible, and it is so interesting to do these kinds of searches. I do want to be heartfelt and and totally devoted to my Jesus!
I not only want to be sincere in my love for Jesus, but also in my love for others. How often do I tell someone I will pray for them, but then the request leaves my mind? That is something I have been trying to work on lately.Good food for thought today, Shan.
AMEN!I loved your post today.
And may we seek to pray for those who are stuck in hypocrisy that they may be freed from their sin and live for Jesus!
Yes, Geidlbots, we do need to pray. . . .thank you for the reminder.
I fall so short of true sincerity…yet praise be to God and the grace granted to me by Jesus…my heart longs to be sincere and follow His ways
Great thoughts and passages Shan. We were touching on this topic last night at our evening bible study service. It does take effort to be sincere sometimes and I struggle with that from time to time. Thank you for sharing and encouraging! Love, Lish
Great post, dear friend ~ may He always keep us from insincerity ~ love the Fanny Crosby words ~
Beautiful post, Shan! I know that I need to be more sincere. Thank you for sharing this!
“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” James 3:17 — great post — thank you.
Beautiful! I pray God will allow me to recognize the false prophets and I believe I have at times, but this post will open my eyes to the search again.
Loved the post and the forgetmenots, which grow in profusion in my back yard. The Puritan perspective brings the realization that this has always been a harsh but subtle reality. I fear it is more prevelant today (especially in America) than we know. Thanks! with blessings and love, in SC
My wife and I have been talking about sincerity in ministry. We have struggled so much trying see where the line is for those that don’t yet understand true sincerity. We come from a church made for the unchurched (but were both raised in traditional churchs). Most of the members of our current church are mostly those “drug” out of the dregs of this world. It is sometimes hard to tell where our traditional understanding of proper graces in church are essential (as a part of holiness and obediance to scripture) and when they are just uncomfortable (as a part of “religion”).
The word that really caught my eye in your definitions was WHOLEHEARTED. May we love and serve Him wholeheartedly today…I am so glad that He will never pass us by! ~Colleen~
thank you for this post. I was encouraged to come to your site by some who have visited my own — I am glad I came. Sincerity is something that has always been important to me – maybe because that’s what my name means, in part, and also because my parents always spoke of it’s importance. In the last ten years Ive had times of questioning even who and what Jesus is due to those who claim the name of Christ, yet, their love for others is according to whether others do and live as they do in all the religious standards and ways. I suppose it all comes down to walking what we talk. Being truthful in our lives – being free from hypocrisy. That first quote really spoke it straight and I am refreshed to read of others who are seeking to live out their lives in sincerity — so often, as long as others think well of us, we forsake our own hearts to see if they are wholeheartedly loving others and the Lord in Sincerity. Thanks for the further encouragement in this area.alyssa