The Alpha of Avoiding Hypocrisy

UV 3057/10000 The Alpha of Avoiding Hypocrisy

Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Matthew 23 v 28

The Lord is not impressed with our outward appearances. He searches our hearts and minds. Jesus showed mercy to repentant sinners including thieves and prostitutes but He was severe in His judgement and words towards the Pharisees, the priests of Jewish society who had the outer form of religion without its inner power. He did not mince words and called them a “brood of vipers”, white-washed sepulchres and so on. He prefers a broken sinner to an apparently pious religious leader. The Lord is interested in doing a deep work of transformation in our lives and is not content with mere appearances.

The Lord measures our faith not just by our words but by our actions. Are we putting into practice sincerely the teachings of Jesus? He desires that we be without guile or self deception. He wants us to be sincere and earnest in our devotion to Him. We cannot be double -minded but we should aim to serve Him with an undivided heart. We have to evaluate ourselves on the basis of the Word and take sincere steps to develop a Christ-like character. We need to seek His forgiveness and help to overcome in the areas of our weaknesses and failures.
Instead of hypocrisy and sin, we should be filled with the fruit of righteousness by the power of the Holy Spirit. Every day we need to be growing in one or more of the dimensions of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. We need to be strict and severe in judging ourselves even as we are gracious, forgiving and non judgemental towards others. The Lord should see that we are zealous for having our own inner temple being cleansed from within, that we are mindful of our shortcomings and taking diligent efforts to overcome these with His help.