Part of the apostle Paul’s prayer for the Philippians in Philippians 1:9-11 was that they “be sincere.”
Our service to God must not be a mere pretense. There is a stark contrast between the one who “goes through the motions” in his or her service to God and the one whose service to Him is genuine.
This principle applies to specific works that we do in service to God. The scribes and Pharisees Jesus rebuked in Matthew 23 did “all their works to be seen by men” (verse 5). In Matthew 6, Jesus rebuked those who use “vain repetitions” in public prayer, without meaning what they say (verses 5-7). These practices rebuked by Jesus exemplify insincerity.
More generally, our lives must be characterized by a sincere effort to fully surrender our will to God’s. “Acting” the part of a Christian only during the assembly of the saints is a far cry from the lifestyle of obedience God commands (Gal. 2:20).
May we not be half-hearted in our service to God, but truly “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is [our] reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1).
– Michael Hickox