Sincere

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,                                                                                          Acts 2:46

I recently spoke with a client about sincerity. He is a genuine, sincere man, but he often struggles with his self-image. He is a craftsman, so I though it might be a good idea to give him the root words that make up the word sincere.

Sincere come from two Latin words, sine and cereus. Putting them together give us the concept, without wax. The back story is this. In old Roman and Greek times, sculptors might cover up a small flaw in a marble statue by applying a bit of wax. It would blend in nicely, but the statue could not be considered flawless. It had a cover-up.  It could not be called sine cereus.  

In order to carry the that marker, the carving had to be without pretense or cover up. It had to be, as we would now call it, sincere. My client immediately took to this story, as I noted that he could be called “sincere”. Yes, he, like all of us, is imperfect, but as we do not try to hide such flaws, we can be called sincere.

So, my friends, while we do not claim to be perfect, we can also celebrate the sincerity of owning those flaws that we possess. We may not celebrate them, but we can be honest, own those flaws, and celebrate our sincerity.

Prayer: Lord, we are grateful for the opportunity to celebrate who we are, loved where we are by you, Amen