The last few weeks I can't seem to shake the fact of how insincere our world is, how insincere our friendships are at times, and frankly, how incredibly insincere my heart is at times. Not only is this true of my relationship with others, but it's true of my relationship with the lover of my heart, Jesus. I find myself at times doing spiritual things with no life on the inside. What frustration there is to know that I am merely being a busy body with no sense of real life on the inside for the things I am doing. Although I'm not to the point of drowning in my condemnation, I believe it's a healthy perspective and an invitation to have my heart awakened and brought out of a state of slumber. It's so the Lord's kindness to show us the reality of our hearts...not so we can stay in depression over the fact that we are lacking, but that He is truly pursuing and calling us into a deeper, more heart felt relationship with Him. He wants us!! Life changes from merely doing things out of habit or ritual, to being alive on the inside and being energized by love. I like life much better this way and I hate it the other way. Yuck. I would quit it all if that's what it was all about...just being a busy body for God is not going to cut it for me. Yet, I find myself being one more often than I want.
Romans 12:9 states, "Love MUST be sincere." The essence of what love is travels around the word sincerity. Love can't be love without sincerity. Websters gives us a look into the word more so we can digest it better. It defines it as, "pure, unmixed, unadulterated, whole, perfect, being in reality what it appears to be; having a character which corresponds with the appearance; not falsely assumed; genuine; true; real; Honest; free from hypocrisy or dissimulation; as, a sincere friend; a sincere person." I love those definitions! I especially like "having a character which corresponds with the appearance." So when you are sincere, what you do and say on the outside is an exact representation of what is happening on the inside of you. There aren't two different streams flowing from your life.
We so easily just blurt out words, even loving words, to others. But many times they are not sincere...they are merely sounds coming out of our mouths with no attachment from our hearts. So that's all it ends up as -- sounds coming from our mouths. But the words that come from a heart that is sincere...his/her words have power because it is coming from a heart that is alive and sincere. That's why when the person that truly loves you says, "I love you" it touches your heart (or stirs your emotions). But when the person that doesn't really mean it, that speaks from a shallowness, says the same exact words, it doesn't touch your heart. So we can safely say, if you speak from your heart sincerely, it will touch others hearts and cause love to be stirred on the inside of others. Love must be sincere. It can't be love without sincerity.
Do you know the power of sincere honest words to a heart? Our hearts are filled with disappointment after dissapointment of the same story over and over...I thought they loved me. It happens over and over again until we finally give up the search for real love. It could be a wound from a parent, a spouse, a friend, a minister, etc. Often we ourselves have hurt others. Maybe not even purposely, but just because we are human. The fact that we are ALL looking for the same thing should point us to Jesus. The one thing that is true of every human is the fact that we are all looking for love. We crave it and many times fill it with things that only satisfy us for a short time. It's like going around the same mountain over and over again. The answer is to not lock ourselves in a room for the rest of our lives so we don't sin.
We must change our view of who God is. He is not our master...He is our lover. When one touches the essence of who Jesus is, everything changes. It's like coming home. It's like finding a safe place for the first time. It's like unveiling our hearts before someone who we can finally trust. It's like sitting on the lap of a safe Daddy who cares for us. It's like laughing for the first time and being found.
It's like being held for the first time by the most tender, gentle, loving hands that knows the feeling of pain, understands our frailty, and whose rewards is in the fact that He can have us. It's like being wanted for the first time. Being known for the first time. It is love to the fullest measure and our hearts can't contain or hold it all. There is nothing like being close to Him and it will ruin you forever once you get even the slightest touch from Him or hear His sweet voice that calms every loud storm around you. He loves amazingly and we don't even know the beginning of it.
What really blows my mind is when I think about how sincere the heart of Jesus must be. He says nothing without His heart being attached to His words. As Psalms 45 says, His words are "annonited with grace." His heart is alive in love. Whoever hears His words are stirred with love because He speaks honestly, with truth and sincerity, which touches our hearts and stirs our emotions. The invitation that He gives us is an invitation of the heart. It's not an invitation for busy bodies. It's an invitation for the heart. To love Him sincerely, to speak honestly to Him, to be one with Him in Spirit and love! Oh what incredible fellowship awaits the person that has a sincere heart...whose words are always attached to their hearts...who speaks honestly to their God! A powerful stream of love flows from that kind of heart. How it must move the heart of God when words come forth from it to Him. Sincere friendships are the one of the most beautiful gifts God can give us on the earth. Oh that our hearts would be free to love each other sincerely -- that our words would always be attached to our hearts -- being a reflection of God's love to one another in a world of insincerity and disilutionment in the area of love. Love. It is the gift of God to us. It is God!
We no longer have to ask the question..."He loves me...He loves me not." We can know.
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