Give It Up! Say No to Pharisaical Following

 “ … do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they preach.” (Matthew 23:3)

Hypocrisy.  Why is it so terrible? Why does Jesus denounce it so vehemently? Because it is a lie. When our actions don’t measure up to our words, we are lying to others, not just about some thing, but about who we are.  Such lying damages others by destroying trust. Others trust that we mean what we say, but our hypocritical actions prove otherwise. Even worse, if we claim (explicitly or implicitly) that our words are informed by a holy, perfect God, hypocrisy destroys others’ faith in God. It’s hard to imagine that our actions are that powerful, to be able to destroy the faith of another person, but it happens all the time. God calls us to be people of integrity, to have an undivided heart, to be honest with God, others and ourselves.

Prayer - Holy God, please root out hypocrisy from my life, that I may life honestly with you, others, and myself.