Authenticity

Authenticity

MY QUESTION for GOD

How can I let others see the authenticity of my faith?

A MOMENT with GOD

When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes. Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: “No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all. People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”

Jonah 3:6-9

Sometimes we confuse repentance with a quick “I’m sorry”—and we wonder why we still feel guilty and don’t sense the Holy Spirit’s power in our lives. Sometimes we confuse good deeds with genuine compassion, and we wonder why people seem to see right through us. Nineveh’s genuine spiritual turnaround models three dimensions of authentic faith:

1. The emotional dimension. The people of Nineveh were truly grieved by their sins. They were ashamed of the condition of their hearts.
2. The relational dimension. The Ninevites sought not just moral improvement but a real and vibrant relationship with the Lord.
3. The behavioral dimension. The Ninevites did more than mourn and pray—they turned from their sins and stopped doing wrong.

Authenticity means doing the right thing because you really want to, not pretending to do it while trying to achieve your own agenda. When you develop the three dimensions of authentic faith, God and others will see that your faith is genuine.

DIVINE CHALLENGE

SEARCH ME, O GOD, AND KNOW MY HEART; TEST ME AND KNOW MY ANXIOUS THOUGHTS.

Psalm 139:23