IT'S NOT WORTH IT : HYPOCRISY

Hello brethren, you are welcome to the month of July. I give God thanks for you, for His power and His word working tremendously in you. May grace and peace be multiplied to you in Jesus name. I will like to bring to your awareness what I titled “HYPOCRISY”

Hypocrisy refers to the act of claiming to believe something but acting in a different manner. The word is derived from the greek term for “actor,” Literally, one who wears a mask. In other words, someone who pretends to be what he is not.

The Bible calls hypocrisy a sin, and every sin is not palatable, neither does it have a wonderful ending. There are two forms hypocrisy can take: that of professing to believe in something and then acting in a manner contrary to that belief, and that of looking down on others when we ourselves are flawed. If God showed and wants us to understand that he condemns hypocrisy in the Old Testament then He doesn’t want us to partake from it in the new. The prophet Isaiah condemned the hypocrisy of his day: “Wherefore the Lord said, forasmuch as this people draw near to me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.” (Isaiah 29:13). Centuries later, Jesus quoted this verse, aiming the same condemnation at the religious leaders of His day: “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:8-9). John the Baptist refused to give hypocrites a pass, telling them to produce “fruits worthy of repentance” (Luke 3:8). Tell me, if hypocrisy was profitable to the believer, then there is no need for him telling us to repent. Jesus took an equal stand against it, He called hypocrites “wolves in sheep clothing’ (Matthew 7:15), “Whitewashed tombs” (Matthew 23:27), snakes,” and “brood of vipers” (Matthew 23:33).

The devil has brought a message into the ears of many, “that once under grace, ever under grace, you can live the way you feel like.” A lot of people have bought into this lie and are living in it as if it’s true. But I tell you, it is a huge deception of Satan. We can’t live by the word standard and at the same time by the world standard. We can’t serve two masters at the same time. As far as Jesus never lived it that way, we shouldn’t.

We cannot say we love God, if we don’t love our brethren (1st John 2:9). Love must be without hypocrisy (Romans 12:9 NKJV). An hypocrite may look righteous on the outside but it is a deception of his inside. Hypocrisy is not the lifestyle of Christ, but of the devil. The Bible says, “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” Such lifestyle has to be killed because it is not of God. It is a strategy of Satan to draw people to hell.

Jesus addressed the other form of hypocrisy in the Sermon on the Mount. He says, “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; then shall thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5). Jesus is not teaching against helping others overcome sin; instead, He is telling us not to be prideful and convinced of our own goodness that we criticize others from a position of self-righteousness. We should do some inspection first and correct our own short coming before we go after the speck in others.

Hypocrisy kills your confidence. It kills your relationship with The Father. Hypocrisy blinds you, it paralyses a believer. He can’t be a good example to others. His judgment and decision making is narrowed down to an extent. His judgment is a word against himself. Hence the Bible says in Romans 2:1-3, “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; For thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Mind you this letter was written to Christians. In Romans 1:18 the Bibles says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.”

Whatever is not of God must be pulled out of our lives. Hypocrisy is not of God. What is that thing that you are involved in that you know is not of God, but you seem to have a picture of another on the outside? There is something beautiful about God, He will always make it known to you, He will always point that grey area where he wants you to kill of your life. Romans 1:19 says, “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath shewed it unto them.’’ He is making it known to you for two reasons:

1. To make a good specimen out of you. To fulfill that great purpose wherein He has called you.

2. To make you avert His wrath in his coming. Romans 2:4-5 says, “Or disrespect thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadest thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

As children of God, we are called to strive for holiness (1st Peter 1:16). All we do should be consistent with what we believe and who we are in Christ. Play-acting is meant for the stage, not for real life. Because your life is too precious to gamble with.

May God bless you. See you next month.