If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother. He is a liar; for he who cannot love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 1 John 4:20 ESV
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:5 ESV
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.
James 1:26 ESV
One of the number one excuses I have been given when inviting people to church is, “I don’t go to church there are too many hypocrites there.” That’s interesting because by calling all these other people hypocrites, you are being hypocritical.
The interesting thing about hypocrisy is we fail to see it in ourselves. The very act of us accusing others of hypocrisy is being hypocritical. Let that one sink in for a minute. When someone would tell my former pastor that they didn’t go to church because there were too many hypocrites there, he would respond with, “Well, there is always room for one more.”
The website becomingchristian.com posted an article on May 23, 2018, by Joshua Infantado which listed the 7 Deadliest Signs You are a Hypocrite. First, we need to understand that every one of us has been a hypocrite. It’s important to make sure you are no longer a hypocrite.
The signs were, hypocrites pretend to be someone they are not, hypocrites love the praise of men, a hypocrite is more concerned with correcting others than correcting themselves, a hypocrite puts more importance on man-made tradition, the hypocrites’ heart is far from God, a hypocrite forgets about the weightier matter of the law, a hypocrite is self-righteous. He backs each of these up with Scripture.
Jesus was not tolerant of hypocrisy. If you look at the 7 signs listed above, look at how many are tied to pride. Hypocrisy is prideful. We call others out for their sin or for the fact they mistreated us or someone we love, but we fail to look at our sins.
Paul put it this way in Romans 2:3 which says, “Therefore, any one of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things.” I want you to think about this for a minute.
We (me included) are quick to judge the sinful behavior of others. But we are happy to turn a blind eye to our sins. We like to think our sin is not as bad as their sin, but we know sin is sin.
Matthew 5:28 tells us if we look at someone with lust in our hearts, we have committed adultery. We are told in Matthew 5:21-22 that if we are angry with someone, we will be subject to murder just as the one who murders.
I understand the anger and the bitterness when someone wrongs us, I’ve been there myself. We, however, have to let go of it and give it over to God. Trust me, He will handle it.
Jesus had every right to judge because he was fully God and He had never sinned. Yet when confronted with the woman caught in the act of adultery, he told those ready to stone her, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Before you start throwing stones at others, I encourage you to take a good look at yourself. The hypocrite has no idea they are a hypocrite. There is no red sign that flashes when you look in the mirror. I encourage you, however, to look inward. Read the article I mentioned above. Does any of that pertain to you?
If you struggle with pride or hold anger and bitterness in your heart, it can lead to hypocrisy. God will be glad to help you remove it. Study your Bible. See what God has to say about hypocrisy. Trust in Him to heal you from the sins of pride, anger, bitterness, and hypocrisy.
I can tell you from experience, it will help to lighten your load. Oh, and if you avoid church because of all the hypocrites there, don’t worry, there is always room for one more.
Have a great day!