This post was last updated on January 9, 2026

Day 315, Year 1

Trusting in God’s Sincerity

“For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you.” (2 Corinthians 1:12 NKJV)

Today’s verse mentioned that Paul, etc., were to live in God’s sincerity, simplicity, and grace. I have three points to share. First, believers bear witness to God with our conscience and do not rely on fleshly wisdom. We are to accept His Word unconditionally and to use His Word to examine and correct our conscience. Thus, we should keep our conscience clean and upright, and heed the voice of our conscience in times of uncertainty about God’s guidance. In addition, human wisdom, which is under His truth, can be used to understand His Word. Contrarily, those who are cunning have a false motive, or a hypocritical attitude, to improperly filter, misinterpret, and distort God’s Word, because their fleshly understanding is primarily against Him. They tend to take advantage of His Word with mere human imaginations. As a result, they will surely embark on a path of perdition and destruction due to distorting His Word. 

Second, believers are to live in simplicity and godly sincerity. “Sincerity” in today’s verse, eilikrineia in Greek, also means “purity in motive, ingenuousness, or clearness.” Believer’s purity comes from God’s simplicity and clearness. Conversely, wicked people always make God’s Word obscure, incomprehensible, or difficult to follow. God’s holiness lies in His hatred and dissociation with all evil, while His sincerity lies in His goodness and single-mindedness. Thus, we who feel dishonest within can pray to Jesus, and He will surely help all who sincerely plead with Him. As a result, so that we all can become sincere, step by step. When you encounter uncertain situations, you can pray to God, seek His answers, and commit the consequences to Him.

Third, believers rely on God’s grace. The Greek word for “grace” is charis. Here, it means “God exerts His lovingkindness and holy favor upon souls, turns them to Christ, to strengthen them in faith, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues, so that they will be governed by the power of divine grace that which affords joy.” Paul pointed out that they were able to rely on God’s simplicity and sincerity because of His grace and power. And so we must rely on His merciful help and power to become sincere, but we must cooperate with God as much as we can. His lovingkindness, generosity, and favor will surely come to those who sincerely and earnestly seek Him.

Reflection questions:

1) Do you feel that your conscience is clean and upright? Is there anything you need to make further progress in Jesus?

2) Do you believe that God’s grace can help you become more sincere when you are not certain? Why?