Can I suggest that at the heart of the Christian ethos is genuineness and sincerity in the heart of mankind? The writer to the Hebrews asked the church to “pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly” (Hebrews 13:18). The Apostle Paul’s point in life was to “have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men” (Acts 24:16). This intention was reflected in Paul’s writing to Timothy when he said that “the purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith” (1 Timothy 1:5 NLT). At the end of the day, the point is to have lived Christ as genuinely and sincerely as possible.
This is especially important within our private lives. I am afraid it is very possible to hide a very poor Christianity behind a good public persona. Our private lives involve our thoughts, motives, and attitudes. This private life is the by-product of what one does with oneself and for oneself when no one is paying attention. Being a real Christian comes down to my inside stuff really being Christ-like. No one has to get it right all the time. God factored in failed attempts and plenty of them. But, I am missing the point if there is not genuineness to this whole experience.
I have failed the Lord and those around me many times. I hate failure. I am very sorry my failure has come at other people’s expense. With that in mind, I have determined to renew my daily commitment to genuineness and sincerity. I really want to be a real Christian. I want “the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart to be acceptable” (Psalms 19:14). I want “to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, and to be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). I pray that my inside stuff will be “renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him,” enabling me to “put on, as the elect of God, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;" (Colossians 3:10-12).
This is especially important within our private lives. I am afraid it is very possible to hide a very poor Christianity behind a good public persona. Our private lives involve our thoughts, motives, and attitudes. This private life is the by-product of what one does with oneself and for oneself when no one is paying attention. Being a real Christian comes down to my inside stuff really being Christ-like. No one has to get it right all the time. God factored in failed attempts and plenty of them. But, I am missing the point if there is not genuineness to this whole experience.
I have failed the Lord and those around me many times. I hate failure. I am very sorry my failure has come at other people’s expense. With that in mind, I have determined to renew my daily commitment to genuineness and sincerity. I really want to be a real Christian. I want “the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart to be acceptable” (Psalms 19:14). I want “to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, and to be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). I pray that my inside stuff will be “renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him,” enabling me to “put on, as the elect of God, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;" (Colossians 3:10-12).
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