Matthew 23:1-3
Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and Pharisees have seated themselves in Moses’ chair [of authority as teachers of the Law]; 3 so practice and observe everything they tell you, but do not do as they do; for they preach [things], but do not practice them.
Ray Stedman tells about a young man who had stopped attending the church Ray was pastoring. The young man said that when he was at work he would sometimes lose his temper and treat co-workers poorly. Then, when Sunday rolled around, he didn’t want to go to church because he felt like a hypocrite. Stedman told his young friend, “A hypocrite is someone who acts like something he isn’t. When you come to church, you are acting like a Christian. You are not a hypocrite at church.” Suddenly, the young man realized where he was being a hypocrite. He recognized that the answer was not in avoiding church but in changing the way he was at work.
This story helped me look at hypocrisy from another perspective. Let’s be honest, we have all found ourselves in situations where we felt like hypocrites. Thinking we are better than others, pretending to be who we are not while magnifying the sin we see in others to make ourselves look better than them.
So how do we overcome hypocrisy? By simply exposing ourselves to the word of God because it is the only thing that can change us from the inside. Just like Jesus told the people to do what the Pharisees taught them but not to emulate their practices because though they preach the right thing, they do not practice it.
You are a Christian; you have a relationship with Jesus that’s where you and I should focus on. The devil will condemn you telling you that you are not a Christian; you are a hypocrite and many other things so as to get you to cut yourself off from the things of God but remember he is the father of all lies. The truth is you are a Christian so stay attached and involved in the things of God, stay in His word so that you will grow and stop acting like one who has not believed yet you are a believer.
Allow God to show you the areas in your life where you are being hypocritical and allow his word to change you from the inside out because the more you read it believe it and act out what it says then you root out hypocrisy from your life.
