Saturday, November 21, 2009

SEEING WITH SINCERITY by Robert Soto (Posted on an email from Words from the Creator)

SEEING WITH SINCERITY
By Robert Soto
Posted on an email from Words from the Creator

November 13, 2009

1 Peter 1:22 "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart."

Sincerity goes a long ways. With sincerity comes the whole issue of faith and trust in an individual. One who believes that the person who is speaking is sincere in his promise, and is able to do what he promises or says he will do. As Geronimo and General Miles met, it was clear that General Miles wanted more than just to know who Geronimo was; he wanted to understand him. As Geronimo recalled the meeting he had with General Miles he wrote, "So General Miles told me how we could be brothers to each other. We raised our hands to heaven and said that the treaty was not to be broken." I don't know if General Miles meant to keep his word, but to an Apache his word was his word. We look at the sounds that come out of a man's mouth that we call words and we believe them. A man's word is like a written contract; we believe and we trust.

A sincere heart - what does it mean to have a sincere heart? I have been promised a lot in life and many times as sincere as a person was, I discovered that sincerity did not come in the form of actions but just words that meant nothing but empty sound. Peter said, "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart." Sincerity comes from a pure heart and a pure heart comes from obeying the truth. When we saturate ourselves with the truth we start seeing things and people the way God the Creator sees them. Your character becomes more like God's character so that you start loving others with a sincere love, a love that cannot be broken. Unfortunately, much of what was promised by General Miles did not happen. He might have desired to keep his promises, but he was only the servant of a system that would never - and even today still cannot see our people the way God the Creator see us, with sincere love.

Robert Soto, Lipan Apache and pastor of:

McAllen Grace Brethren Church
The Native American New Life Center
Chief of Chiefs Christian Church

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