Have you experienced at sometime a person does something or says something, that you feel his or her sincerity? From that sincerity is assurance, a sense of stability and from this, a sense of peace, that all is now fine or resolved?
Have you experienced sometime when someone says something whose outward words appear as sincere or his/her actions by appearance are OK or good, but you do not feel the sincerity? Instead you feel instability, a sense of warning or caution and from this, no sense of peace?
Usually in the latter case, what prevails is a sense of confusion about the other person, a sense of unsureness because of the disparity between word or action and the “impression” it leaves. It is this disparity that gives warning that the person is not sincere, not true, is misleading or spreading falsehood. It is in this realm that such a person operates on selfishness and pride, the area of the natural man who cannot be trusted. For when the mind of the natural man prevails, he becomes the enmity to God and such cannot be trusted. In this case, be cautious, remain steadfast in faith and God’s ways, listen to the Spirit of God and most of all, listen to your feelings, not to pride or fear (yours or theirs).
True sincerity is very important in our interactions with other people, irrespective of what other people may think or believe. Sincerity puts across the honesty and integrity one wishes to exercise and completes tasks in a fulfilling way. Sincerity requires honesty and integrity to exist and visa-versa. Just like faith is useless without hope and hope has no value without faith. The two are interdependent to exist and cannot be separated. Sincerity in it’s true form, is the basis of all resolutions between people. It is what establishes a manner of trust that when it is felt and experienced, a person can move forward knowing that so long as sincerity is at the forefront, all will work out fine.
Sincerity is required to resolve issues between people. Without it, there is no peace and no resolution. Sincerity is what ensures that the outcome is good and right for all involved.
There are times that people who claim to be sincere are not. For example, if a person offends you, harms you or your family or friends and he is not sincere in his actions of recompense, then his appearance of repenting is false. This because he is merely exercising a mechanical act, one without true and real intent to make restitution and correct the wrong he has done. If a person who has offended or harmed, tries to diminish the harm done as he “claims” to make good his wrongs, he is not sincere in his efforts to make peace, he is averting his responsibility and obligation to make good.
If a person who has offended and harmed comes to you and tries to make a deal, where his deal excludes or lessens the needed action on his part to resolve the harm or damage he has done, then he is not sincere and that deal is the deal with the devil. If this deal he wishes to impose is to make you do something first in order that he performs his obligation to correct his wrongs against you, then he is trying to cheat you and he has no real sincerity, no matter what he says.
Why do I give this example?
The offensive person is a real experience I have encountered. What I have learned about sincerity is that it is very important. Sincerity may appear to be simulated by outward claims and acts, but spiritually speaking it cannot be duplicated. It must be true and must contain honesty and integrity else the “spirit of sincerity” is not present. The example of the offensive person provides for a good example to work from.
Without sincerity to make the right effort to fulfill the responsibility of restitution, then the opposite exists, which is selfishness, greed, self-serving intentions, etc. Simply wickedness and evil. This only serves to harm others again since “the evil tree cannot bear good fruit”.
Take that example where the offender tries to impose a deal where you are to perform something first in order to receive even a part of his restitution. If a person accepts this “deal” then he/she was tricked and cheated by the offender. The offender, by way of this deal, took his responsibility to correct his wrongs and shifted it upon you. This says that his act is no longer sincere and no longer correcting any wrongs, because the deal effectively holds you responsible for what he is suppose to do.
If you fail in that deal, he can then blame you for it’s failure and impose upon you a false guilt. Blaming you because then he can hide behind that blame, falsely making you at fault for no peace and he succeeds in avoiding his responsibility to correct his wrongs.
If you fulfill your part of that deal, well he may give what he agreed to do, but you will still feel cheated, because what he gave was not sincere and is sorely insufficient to correct his wrongs and resolve the matter. This is because what he gave was based on what you did for it, where true resolution from a person who has offended, must give it freely on his own accord.
In other words he imposed upon you the false idea that you had to “work” for his kindness or work for his apology or work for his minor restitution. This effectively forces upon you the false image that he did no wrong. IN this he averted his responsibility to recompense and correct his wrongs and make peace because he made his recompense as a “price” to be paid. This says that restitution became a price for the victim to pay for ( or agree to) and that effectively makes it the same as “harm”. For a victim to pay for the restitution or work for it says that the victim is at fault, not the offender.
A truly sincere person who truly wants to make peace for the harm and offense he has committed, must do so on his own accord. The offender is the only one that must “work” for the resolution, pay for it and do so without making deals. Such must be done freely of his own free will. It is only then can true peace occur.
Sincerity is what takes the harm or offense back. A sincere apology, for example, will tell the harmed person that the offensive words are taken back. The offender takes responsibility because he has taken back what he has done. That is when a true resolution is made. That is when it is truly sincere.
Sincerity means that a person will perform the duties he is to perform to correct his wrongs. He will do this on his own accord, because it is the right and ethical thing to do. Sincerity means that a person will abide in, follow and exercise the responsibilities he/she must do. If a person offends another, then in true sincerity that offender will do all that is needed to correct his wrongs, remove all the damage or harm that is possible for him to do and then present all this to those he has harmed. This becomes the gift of peace. When this is experienced, then true sincerity shines in it and true peace is achieved.
What is the victims part of this? It is to receive the sincere work by the offender and this is where the forgiveness is completed. If the victim fails to see the sincerity in the work done to correct the wrongs, then it falls onto the victim for failing to be forgiving, but the offender is still absolved, so long as the work done by him is sufficient and appropriate to the harm done. This says, in God’s law, all sincere and true work is rewarded and given it’s due.
Now comes the important question. “What if the offender refuses to act in sincerity and makes all kinds of excuses and blames to avert his responsibility? Well, to those who have been harmed by these kind of people, so long as you are sincere and forgiving, you can ask God for restitution.
Yes, you can ask God that the harm done to you be rectified and in God’s timing and will, so long as you are sincere and faithful (because without faith and sincerity God cannot help you), then God will rectify to you the harm done. God will bring peace to you and even your family if they have been offended or harmed as well.
But what of the offender, will he just get away with it?
No he will not. Fear not, as the scriptures clearly say that all people are held responsible for their actions and works – remember? When God has to bring peace to you for the harm another has done to you, God is acting in his stead, akin to being a proxy, BUT the cost of this restitution is then placed onto the head of the offender.
Some other Christian’s think that the atonement of Christ covers it and the person is free. That is a sinful doctrine, because it allows people to become wicked, evil and irresponsible. The atonement does not remove a person’s responsibility to his or her choices and actions. The atonement helps a person make restitution, but does not remove the obligation for that person to rectify his or her wrongs. The offender must still do the “work”.
This says that when God rectifies it for the victim, in the name of the offender, the offender automatically goes into a “debt” state with God (this with other sins makes the debt very heavy indeed). The offender becomes responsible for the cost. Unless the offender repents and makes an expedient and timely restitution to whom he has harmed, the offender will pay for it when God decides payment is due. That could be in this life or after death, but either way, the offender will answer to it for sure. IF this is the case for a person who has offended and refuses to do what he or she is obligated to do, be assured that this will stop that person from entering the kingdom of God and that person will end up in spirit prison to answer for his or her crimes.
Now, I did say that God can rectify the harm done by the offender so why would the offender have to still recompense the victim and not just directly to God?
This is because the offender has a responsibility to the victim of his offence. God has not taken away or assumed this responsibility. The offender has to forward his or her sincere act of correction to the one’s he or she has harmed. If this is completed by the offender, in a sincere way, then the offender has paid the debt to God and to the victim.
The principles that I have related so far, applies to all people, Mormon or not. They are basic moral and ethical principles that God teaches and the world is obligated to abide in them. Failure results in dire consequences. Other beliefs have named this “Karma” or the “Pay the Piper” etc.
Sincerity, honesty, integrity are not things to manipulate or trifle with. As you hopefully see that to work by sincerity, ye shall be blessed.
Amen
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