Sincere or Sincerely Wrong?

What happens when we are absolutely convinced we are right… and we are not? In this episode, Coach Dombrowski unpacks the dangerous difference between sincerity and truth. Through real-life examples, biblical teaching, and honest self-reflection, this episode explores how good intentions, strong feelings, and confidence can still lead us in the wrong direction.

Using the story of Saul before he became Paul, this episode challenges listeners to stop defending what God may be trying to correct. From relationships and anger to excuses and identity, this is a call to humility, teachability, and the courage to ask: “Am I right… or am I just convinced?”

Transcript

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What if I told you that you can be completely sincere and still be completely wrong? You can mean well, you can cry about it, you can defend it, you can post about it, you can even get other people to agree with you, and you know what? You're still wrong. Right? There are people who are sincerely convicted that because they feel peace that God must be in it. There are people who are sincerely convicted that because everybody else is doing it, it can't be that bad. And there are people who are sincerely convinced that because they had a hard life, they deserve to stay that bitter. And there are people who are sitting in church every Sunday believing that they are following God while they actually are following comfort and pride, politics, popularity, fear, feelings. Man, that's one of the hardest truths to accept. Sincerity is not the same thing as truth because you can be driving the wrong direction with all your heart. You can be standing on the wrong foundation with complete confidence. You can be following the wrong voice with good intentions. And maybe the most dangerous kind of wrong is the kind that feels right. This is the episode that's not shaming anybody, but it's about helping us stop long enough to ask: Am I right? Or am I just convinced? Welcome to the Intentional Grounding Godcast Letters to Isaiah. I'm your host and faith strategist, Coach Dombrowski. Today we're talking about the difference of being sincere and being sincerely wrong. All right. So, why being sincere isn't enough? And I think there is a verse in the Bible that should really should shake us all a little bit. In the book of Proverbs, it says that there is a way that seems right to a person, but in the end, it leads to destruction. And that means that something can feel right, it can look right, it can seem logical, you know, and still be wrong. You know, maybe you've done this before. If you're driving somewhere that you've never been, and you are absolutely convinced that you know where you're going. You ignore the GPS, you ignore the signs, and you keep saying, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. I know exactly where I'm going. And 20 minutes later, you're lost. You know, you're sincere, you were confident, you meant well, but you were still wrong. That's everyday life. I mean, a husband sincerely convinced that his wife is upset because she's uh overreacting when in reality she's hurt because he has not been listening. Or a parent who is convinced that yelling is a good discipline when really it's anger wearing a mask. Or a teenager who is sincerely convinced that the wrong group of friends is harmless because they accept me. An employee who is sincerely convinced that cutting corners at work is fine because everyone else is doing it. You see, sincerity can fool us when it's not tested by truth. Everybody remembers Saul, right? Saul before he became Paul. It's one of the greatest examples of being sincerely wrong, is Saul. I mean, before he became Paul, he was convinced that he was doing the right thing. He believed he was serving God, he believed he was defending truth, but he was persecuting Christians. He was sincere, he was passionate, he was committed, and he was sincerely wrong. Saul was so convinced that he was right, that he was willing to travel miles, argue with people, devote his life to what he believed. And then one day on the road to Damascus, everything changed. And God confronted him, not to destroy him, but to wake him up. You know, and maybe there are moments in our lives where God lovingly confronts us too. Maybe he says, You think you're protecting yourself, but really you're pushing people away. You think you're standing for truth, but you're really standing in pride. Or you think you're being strong, but man, really you are just refusing to heal. Or he says, You think you're following me, but you're really following your own feelings. That's not condemnation, that's mercy. Because if God didn't correct us, we would stay lost while thinking that we were right. You know, how about this as an example? Well, I'm just being honest. Have you ever heard somebody say that? I'm just being honest. What they really mean is, I want your permission to be rude. Right? They think they're telling the truth, they think that they're helping, they think that they're justified, but sincerity doesn't excuse the way that the truth is delivered. There's a difference between being honest and being harsh. You can sincerely think, like, well, I'm helping my friend by telling them everything wrong with them. But if there's no love and there's no grace or no wisdom, no timing, you can be sincerely wrong. Or somebody gets hurt in life. Maybe they they've been through betrayal, maybe they've, you know, worked hard and and they're tired, and they start to justify things and they say things like, you know, I deserve this, like I deserve to cheat a little. I deserve to stay angry. I I deserve to shut everyone out. I deserve to treat people badly because of what I went through. And you know what? Maybe they really believe it. But pain doesn't automatically make every reaction right. You can be sincerely hurt and sincerely wrong in how you respond. And this one gets me all the time. I hear like you hear this, like God wants me to be happy. You know, people will walk away from commitments and marriages and friendships or churches, responsibilities, and they say, Well, God wants me to be happy. And you know what? God does care about your joy, right? But happiness is not always the same thing as holiness. Sometimes God calls us to forgive when we don't feel like it, or calls us to stay committed when it's hard and grow instead of run. Like you can sincerely believe that because something makes you feel good, it must be right. But feelings are not always facts. And there may be people listening right now who are sincerely convinced of things that are quietly hurting them. You know, somebody sincerely believes if I keep being, you know, keep everyone being happy, then people are gonna love me. So they say yes when they want to say no, and they keep sacrificing themselves, they keep pretending and they're exhausted. Or somebody else sincerely believes if I'm strong, I cannot cry. So they bury their emotions and they numb themselves. You know, they carry the pain for years. Or somebody else, you know, believes if I have doubts, then I must not have faith. So they hide, they pretend they smile when they're secretly struggling. Maybe the truth is real strength cries. Healthy people have boundaries, right? Faith can ask questions. So sometimes what we need most is not more compassion, sometimes we just need more truth. So here's the shift. Instead of asking, well, what feels right to me, start asking what is actually true. Or what do I want? Instead of asking that, ask, well, what is wise? And instead of asking, what can I justify, ask what would honor God? Because if we only follow our feelings, we'll eventually end up somewhere our feelings cannot, you know, save us. Truth's not always comfortable. Truth will confront you, right? It's gonna humble us. You know, truth. This is the best part. In my opinion, truth is gonna expose us, and at the same time, it's gonna free us. You know, if you stop growing, uh, you may stay stuck in things that you're convinced are normal. You might keep thinking, like, well, this is just who I am. I'm just angry. I'm just defensive, I'm just negative, I'm just anxious. I'm just the kind of person who can't trust anybody. But what if those things are not your identity? What if those are your habits that you learned? What if they're wounds that you never healed? Or what if you're sincerely convinced that this is who you are, but God says otherwise? Y'all, you don't have to stay who you have always been. You don't have to keep defending what God is trying to heal. You know, the the people who grow the most are not the people who are never wrong. They're the people who grow, and they're the ones that are willing to admit it. I mean, there's something powerful about being teachable. A proud person says, I already know. And a teachable person says, help me understand. A proud person says, I can't be wrong. And a wise person says, Well, if I'm wrong, I want to know. The legacy of the moment is not perfection, it's humility. Because one conversation, one correction, one truth can change the direction of your entire life, just like Saul becoming Paul. Not to my grandson Isaiah. There are going to be moments in your life when you are absolutely convinced that you are right. You're going to have strong opinions, strong feelings, strong beliefs, and sometimes you're still going to be wrong. Don't be afraid of that. Goal in life is not to always be right. The goal is to always be willing to learn. And I hope you become the kind of man who listens, the kind of man who can say, I was wrong, the kind of man who values truth more than pride. Because there will be people who spend their entire lives defending things that are hurting them simply because they don't want to admit that they were wrong. Don't let that be you. If God corrects you, thank him. If somebody who loves you speaks truth to you, listen. If you realize you were wrong, don't see it as failure, see it as growth. Because the strongest people are not the people who never change. The strongest people are the ones who are humble enough to actually do it. I love you, Isaiah. Well, maybe today is not about pointing fingers at somebody else. Maybe today is about asking God, is there anywhere in my life where I have been sincere but been sincerely wrong? Maybe it's your relationships, maybe it's in your attitude, maybe it's your pride, maybe it's in your excuses, maybe it's in your fear. Whatever it is, don't run from it. You know, it's the truth. Because the truth isn't trying to hurt you, the truth is trying to heal you. So today, choose humility over pride, choose wisdom over feelings, choose truth over being comfortable. And remember, you do not have to have all the answers. You just have to stay teachable. Until next time, coach Dombrowski out. I'll be praying for you.