Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

The Holy Spirit made it clear that God wants us to be sincere.

Today’s scripture, Romans 12:9-10 (NIV) says…
[9] Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. [10] Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Consider…
Oxford Languages defines the adjective sincere as…

• free from pretense or deceit; proceeding from genuine feelings.

Thus, today’s verses tell us God wants us to be genuine GEMs…

• Glorify God and
• Edify Others by
• Magnifying His Love

Full transparency, the Holy Spirit had me meditate on God’s indictment of our sincerity disparity.

During my meditation, and the Holy Spirit’s conviction, the Lord led me to Jesus’ words in Matthew 15:7-9 (NLT)…
[7] “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, [8] ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. [9] Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ ”

According to AI…
In the Bible, a hypocrite is someone who pretends to be righteous or holy while lacking genuine faith and inner transformation, focusing on external appearances to deceive others.

That reminded me of Paul’s hypocrite warning in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (ERV)…
[1] Remember this: There are some terrible times coming in the last days. [2] People will love only themselves and money. They will be proud and boast about themselves. They will abuse others with insults. They will not obey their parents. They will be ungrateful and against all that is pleasing to God. [3] They will have no love for others and will refuse to forgive anyone. They will talk about others to hurt them and will have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. [4] People will turn against their friends. They will do foolish things without thinking and will be so proud of themselves. Instead of loving God, they will love pleasure. [5] They will go on pretending to be devoted to God, but they will refuse to let that “devotion” change the way they live. Stay away from these people!

As I read Paul’s warning, I heard Maurette Brown Clark sing…

I don’t want a form of godliness
I want God, all I ever wanted was God
And I don’t wanna give Him second best
I want God, all I ever wanted was God (yeah)

See I wanna live like Him (live like Him)
Treat everybody (treat everybody right)
And I wanna look like Him (look like Him)
Precious in His sight (precious in His sight)
Help me to love (love like Him), and forgive (forgive my enemies)
And be what He call me to be (and be what He call me to be)

I don’t want a form of godliness (I want God)
I want God, all I ever wanted was God (all I ever wanted was God)
And I don’t wanna give Him second best (don’t wanna give Him my second best)
I want God, all I ever wanted was God (it’s all I ever wanted)

One of the main goals of the ‘eternal encouragement’ blogs, is to challenge believers to be transformed doers of God’s word.

The goal comes from James 1:22-25 (NLT), which exhorts…
[22] But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. [23] For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. [24] You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. [25] But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

Most of us are familiar with the idiom, “actions speak louder than words”, well the Holy Spirit raised the bar and emphasized our actions must align with words.

He cited James 2:18 (ERV), which says…But someone might argue, “Some people have faith, and others have good works.” My answer would be that you can’t show me your faith if you don’t do anything. But I will show you my faith by the good I do.

And He added Jesus’ words in John 4:23-24 (NIV), which are…
[23] Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. [24] God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

Notice, Jesus said God the Father is looking for sincere worshippers.

That fact hit play on Forever Jones singing…

There’s a voice that cries out in the silence
Searching for a heart that will love Him
Longing for a child that will give Him their all
Give it all, He wants it all

And there’s a God that walks over the earth
He’s searching for a heart that is desperate
And longing for a child
That will give Him their all
Give it all, He wants it all

And He says love me, love me with your whole heart
He wants it all today
Serve Me, serve Me with your life now
He wants it all today
Bow down, let go of your idols
He wants it all today
He wants it all today
He wants it all today
He wants it all over

As the song fades, Mark 12:29-31 (NLT) appears…
[29] Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. [30] And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ [31] The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

The Holy Spirit emphasized, God only wants and accepts ‘all in’ relationships.

To make it crystal clear, I was reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:21-23 (NLT)…
[21] “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. [22] On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ [23] But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

Then the Holy Spirit said to everyone claiming to be heaven bound…
You don’t get to go, unless the Lord knows you sincerely.

Said another way, there can be no heaven clarity with earthly sincerity disparity. Thus why Jesus said in Luke 6:46 (NLT)…
[46] “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?

Jesus is saying, don’t call Him Lord unless you sincerely and clearly mean to!

Then the Holy Spirit flashed in neon lights…

Say what you mean and mean what you say!

…He added

Do what you say you mean.

That conviction led me to Psalms 139:1-4 (NLT), which confesses…
[1] O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. [2] You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. [3] You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. [4] You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD.

Our omniscient and omnipresent God wants us to always be mindful that He sees, hears and knows everything, everywhere, all the time.

In fact, God says in Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NLT)…
[9] “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? [10] But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”

Despite our best efforts, we can’t hide our true selves, and hearts, from God!

So I wondered, if our hearts are deceitfully wicked and God knows us completely, how can we possibly have a holy sincere relationship with God?

Thankfully, the Holy Spirit responded with Hebrews 10:20-22 (NLT)…
[20] By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. [21] And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, [22] let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

The Holy Spirit showed me that spiritual sincerity isn’t about what we do, but Who we believe.

Romans 3:22-24 (NLT) explains…
[22] We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. [23] For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. [24] Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

You see, despite our best efforts, we probably won’t get it right, but based on our sincere faith in Jesus, we’ll be made right.

Just as I was about to end today’s post, the Holy Spirit reminded me, we’re saved for a purpose. He led me to 1 Peter 1:22 (NLT), which reminds…
[22] You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.

Living sincerely for God requires loving others sincerely like Him.

The Holy Spirit emphasized, it’s a sincerity disparity to say we love God, but not others.

1 John 4:7-8 (NLT) commands…
[7] Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. [8] But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

Woah, the Holy Spirit showed me that God’s love is not unilateral, rather it’s bilateral, meaning it’s loving Him and others.

Before you challenge my theology, read Jesus’ psychology in John 15:9-10, 17 (NLT)…
[9] “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. [10] When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.
[17] This is my command: Love each other.

With this the Holy Spirit drove the most important message God wanted me to hear and share today!

Our love must be sincere.

You see our words and actions begin with who or what we sincerely and clearly love.

If we sincerely love God, we’ll surely love others.

Sincere love will be abundantly clear, because holds God and others most dear. As 1 Peter 4:8 (NLT) emphasizes…
[8] Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.

The Holy Spirit is saying, obey Ephesians 5:1-2 (NLT)…
[1] Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. [2] Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

Which 1 John 3:16-18 (NLT) expounds upon, saying…
[16] We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. [17] If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? [18] Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.

I pray this post has provided some clarity to the sincerity disparity that our Heavenly Father wants us to overcome in order to truly be, and love, like His firstborn Son!

If it did, sincerely love God by clearly loving others like He loved, and loves, you!

Lord help us to sincerely and clearly love the way You love us! 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

Today’s song is…
Help Us To Love

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)