How do you know you are sincere?

[heron]

..or our perceptions of love and faith change from less emotional to more secure.

 

[intricatic]

..or our perceptions of love and faith change from less emotional to more secure.

Indeed, they become more 'routine' - which is both a blessing and a curse. It really depends on the person.

 

[dodad91]

I would simply point you to Romans 6:16. KJV. "Know ye not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness." We are always yielding, and if we say we don't know who we're yeilding to (if we know the truth), then we make the Word of God of none effect! God Forbid!!

 

[saami]

How do you know you are sincere?

How can you be sure that you are not merely pretending to be sincere (even before yourself)? How do you know you are not merely displaying some wishful thinking of how you would like to be, but are not?

How do you know when you are telling the truth about yourself (like in prayer)?


* * *


Similarly,

How do you know that you truly believe in Christ?

How do you know that you truly believe in Christ, and are not merely deluding yourself with wishful thinking?

A wise older person once told me when I was worried about my own reason and strength - "If you are worried about it, you have nothing to worry about."

As I have grown older - hopefully "up" I realize that I worry alot about un-necessary things. What God wants of us is to turst God, not ourselves, to live for Now, not just looking forward or backward in fear or regret. To Believe that Divine Power and Knoweldge and LOVE is greater than anything we face.

 

[seebs]

How do you know you are sincere?

How can you be sure that you are not merely pretending to be sincere (even before yourself)? How do you know you are not merely displaying some wishful thinking of how you would like to be, but are not?

How do you know when you are telling the truth about yourself (like in prayer)?

I don't. Sometimes I'm wrong.

Similarly,

How do you know that you truly believe in Christ?

How do you know that you truly believe in Christ, and are not merely deluding yourself with wishful thinking?

Even if it's just wishful thinking, it's nonetheless a belief. Belief is primary experience, and it makes very little sense to speculate on whether or not your experience of belief is "real".

 

[intricatic]

This whole topic is absurd and it reeks of Kantian philosophy. Well, perhaps we shall observe our emotions and be neither victim to love or to hate like the Stoics. Or perhaps our emotions towards God are merely a product of themselves and our own desire to be one with reality. Hmm... however much thought is put behind it, the mere fact is that emotions and faith are very real in and of themselves, though I am sure there are those out there who hold faith for purely selfish reasons, that's not generally the case. Only a great fool would persue a topic such as this from the ulterior line of reasoning. You might as well be asking if your hand is real.

 

[Nightfire]

I want to add something that occurred to me. Sincerity is not just about being sure of your intentions, it's just as much about having the intentions. And like so many things, it can't be just a feeling, we must act on a decision. When internal motivation fails, some external motivation must still be there. With faith, God is our best motivator - we just can't count on our sincerity about laying down sin and think that will carry us through.

So I think sincerity is often better measured by perseverance than by confidence. We are sometimes required to do dress up for an event, and though we might not like dressing up, if we are serious about attending, we will. We will feel that our dressing up is insincere, but the fact that we do it anyway will be the evidence that we are sincere about going.

In fact, our sincerity suffers as much from sinful desire as anything else. It's easier to be sincere about seeing a movie with friends than attending a close relative's funeral or doing our homework. The real challenge is getting our priorities straight, and if God is not a priority, everything about our faith will suffer. Not just our sincerity.