We all have two sides of us, good part of us that the world sees us and the bad part of us that we see only to ourself. Many times we don’t want others to see our bad side of us as we have a fear that it will expose the image of us and make us bad to the world. Meditating the word of God in Luke 12, God taught me many things on hypocrisy, want to lay that to you also, so that you learn what I learnt from God’s word.
What Causes Hypocrisy?
At the root of hypocrisy is fear and low self-esteem.
We use hypocrisy to avoid looking at our shortcomings
We believe that we should not be held to the same standards as others because we are better than others as our belief is good, nobler, and sincere.
At the root of hypocrisy is a strong desire to be loved and accepted.
The fear of humility and judgment is so powerful, that we want to avoid facing that situation
What are the type of Hypocrisy patterns in ourself
Inconsistency - You tell one to others and you practice opposite of what you tell. What you tell to others don’t apply for you.
Pretend or Lie - You pretend to make it so real, that you fake out many times what you tell outside is too good and very true. In other words you lie to others about your situation to cover up your shortcomings.
Blame - You blame others for your problem instead of accepting your weakness or issues, this is a deception technique by the devil to avoid being exposed
Complacency - You assume you are always good and correct and others are always wrong, that’s a big lie that devil tells us to cover our sin.
What does Bible Say about Hypocrisy ?
First - Its a Sin
'…Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ' Luke 12:1
Its like a yeast which spreads across within us when we have very little
Jesus warns to guard from hypocrisy, clean that when you see it small so that it does not grow big.
Lies of satan on Hypocrisy
Many times, We often believe that what we've said in secret will stay secret. We think that what we've done in private will never be revealed. It will be revealed one day, its just matter of time (some in days / weeks / months or years)
Jesus said in Luke 12:2-3 'There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. '
Prophet Isaiah spoke on this.. Isaiah 29:15-16 'Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord , who do their work in darkness and think, “Who sees us? Who will know?” You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “You did not make me”? Can the pot say to the potter, “You know nothing”? '
And the psalmist wrote: Psalms 90:8 'You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. '
The Lord is all-knowing and all-seeing. You are never alone with your thoughts. There is no deed you do that the Lord does not see. Our hypocrisy might fool men, but it doesn't fool God. The Lord says, Jeremiah 17:10 '“I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” '
Satan makes us believe that what we have done in private stays private, That’s a big lie he tells to us to commit the hypocrisy sin. You may get away with the sin for now(thats because of God’s grace to allow you to come to him), but it will catch up soon ( it’s can be after few days or months or years).
How do we get rid of Hypocrisy ?
1. Fear God
You will need to Fear God, Once you fear God then you will fear on the sins that you commit, you cannot be cold faced with the hypocrisy to hide them thru
Jesus said Luke 12:4-5 ' “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. '
Jesus says, "Stop being afraid of men, be fearful of God." You know, we're afraid to be real, we're afraid to show our weaknesses, we're afraid to confess our sins one to another. We're afraid of being laughed at, gossiped about, or refused to be accepted socially. But because of that fear, we begin live in hypocrisy. We put on masks that say, "I've got it all together, I'm just fine". But when we do that, we stand condemned before God. Because that is hypocrisy, that is sin. Jesus says, "Forget that mask, stop being afraid of men, 'the fear of man brings a snare'. Be real before men and God." Caleb said in
Joshua 24:14 '“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord . '
Don’t live two lives one outside and one inside, try living one life thats common to God and man.
The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is wisdom, knowledge, instruction, understanding, that it prolongs life, and is strong confidence. And ultimately,
Prov. 8:13 "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil..." and keeps one away from evil. Your strongest defense against the flesh, against evil, against sin, is to fear the Lord. Forget about being a hypocrite and trying to look good on the outside. Fear God, and you'll find yourself being quite holy.
Once you fear God, he will show the areas of hypocrisy in your life.
2. Confessing to Jesus Christ
Confessing the sin before Jesus is the first step to getting rid of the hypocrite behaviour in us.
So, since God sees all sin, and God judges all sin, how can someone possibly be saved from sin? Pauls writes in Romans 10:9-11 'If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” '
Once you confess with your mouth and believe from your heart the Sin that God revealed to you, you will be saved. Paul adds “God raised Him from the dead” it’s the same God who raised Jesus defeat the death on the cross, who will wash your sins.
Because Jesus died for our Sins, his blood purifies us and washes away our sins and makes us a new person, the old in us is gone. We become a new person in Christ. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 NIV
There is a lie that Satan says if we confess to God we will be put to shame and the fear makes us live in the hypocrite life. But the word says it clear “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” '
Now is your chance to confess Jesus before men. Because the day will come that we will stand before the Father, and Jesus will either confess or deny us to the Father. One of two things will happen. If you have confessed Jesus before men, then He will say, "Father, this person is perfect".
But if you've never confessed Jesus as Lord and believed in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, if you've denied Him before men, then He will stand before the Father and say, "I never knew this person." And you will be condemned to an eternity in outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
3. Fear of Shame
There is a story in Bible in Luke which gives that view, Luke 7:36-38,46-48 'When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” '
We read here a woman “lived a sinful life” What were the sins that this woman was guilty of ? We're not told. What we know for sure is that she was truly a sinner, because Jesus states later in this passage that she was one. And we know that her sins were quite public, and were associated with life in the city. And we know that she had a bad reputation, and was recognized as a notorious woman. And we know that her sins were so bad, and were so many, that she was considered a moral “untouchable” by respectable, righteous, religious folks.
So, hearing that Jesus was in the house of this Pharisee, this woman made her way to Him, removing the fear of herself, she brought with her an alabaster flask of spikenard—a very expensive and fragrant oil. The Bible tells us of a time when another woman—Jesus' dear friend Mary—came and poured a whole pound of this costly perfume upon our Savior in preparation for His burial. There are only 2 people who poured expensive perfume on our Saviour. She was one among them
It’s a lie from Satan that once we confess our Sins will be tagged to us and remembered for ever, this is no true, you can see many born again Christians, Pastors who had their life so messed in past, now a devoted changed person. There are many Bible examples to back that as well.
If you see the way it started we read about the woman with “Sinful life” after the forgiveness of Sin by Jesus. We don’t talk on her sin any more, we focus on the good work of alabaster flask of spikenard that she poured on Jesus. The fear of shame is gone from the sin once Jesus washes us. God unleashes a new life in us which takes the old sin away and gives us a new creation to make us renewed and clean. 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
We have our own hypocrisy of life, it can be taken out only if we take the bold step to God to say I am a sinner wash me father. He is waiting to wash us away whatever our Sins may be, how bad it may be.
Start the first step !!. He knows everything but still he is giving his grace to see when you will come and take the first step. Jesus is waiting to wash us in his blood.
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