Do Not Be a Hypocrite!

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:33-37 NASB1995)

Jesus Christ was speaking here to the Pharisees. And who were the Pharisees of Jesus’ day? They were the religious, instructors in religious practices, and those who proclaimed faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but who did not live what they preached. They were fakes and phonies who presented one image on the outside while inside they were full of all sorts of wickedness. They were religious hypocrites, in other words.

The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were skilled at hypocrisy. Jesus described them in this way (based off Matthew 23:1-39):

• They do not practice what they preach

• They do their deeds to be seen by others

• They love places of honor; they love attention

• They lead people to hell on the promise of heaven

• They profess one thing but live the opposite

• They adhere to religious rituals but not to God’s righteousness

• They appear clean (righteous) outwardly but inwardly are evil

• They are full of wicked deeds, greed, hypocrisy and self-indulgence

• They persecute those who are truly righteous in God’s sight

But a hypocrite can be anyone who gives one impression of themselves outwardly, for others to see, while they live the opposite of what they present, in practice. And we are not talking here about perfection vs. imperfection, for none of us will be completely perfect until Jesus returns for his faithful bride and he takes us to be with him for eternity, which is when our salvation, which is progressive, will be complete, and we’ll be whole.

We are talking here about fakery, willfully presenting one image of oneself outwardly for others to see while living the opposite of that when no one else is looking. This is about talking the walk while not living it, in practice, but while living the opposite of it, in practice. This is about deliberately misleading other humans to believe one thing about you while you live the opposite of that in reality. We all need to live what we profess, in practice.

So, what Jesus was teaching here is that we should be honest about who we are and what we are doing. And this means, even if we profess our wrongs, that we should be honest about what we are doing to correct those wrongs, as well. Many people want to make a good impression on others so that others will like them, and so they will perform for an audience because they want to be liked by others. But we need to be real, not fakes, not phonies.

And this is not saying we should publicly announce every wrong step we have ever taken in our lives but that we should not lie to others about who we are or where we have been to where we give out false impressions. And I believe that is one reason the Lord periodically has me share some of my testimony, for I have not always walked with him as closely as I do now. I have not always served him faithfully, but I had a time of moral failure, too.

But this does not mean that it is okay for any of us to keep sinning as a matter of life practice, deliberately and habitually sinning against God, as long as we are being honest about it. For Jesus gave his life up for us on that cross to deliver us out of addiction to sin so we will now serve him with our lives in faithful obedience to him. We are to live holy lives, pleasing to God, all in his power, by his grace, because we love him and want to obey him.

So, not only are we not to be fakes and phonies who give one impression outwardly while we live differently when no one else is looking, but we are to be those who have denied self, died with Christ to sin, who are living to God and to his righteousness in surrender to his will and purpose for our lives. We are no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as servants of our Lord, doing what God has called us to do – all for his purposes and for his glory.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; Acts 26:18; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Colossians 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10]   

My Sheep  

Based off John 10:1-30 NIV

An Original Work / June 24, 2012  

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

My sheep hear me. They know me.

They listen to my voice and obey.

I call them and lead them.

They know my voice, so they follow me.

They will never follow strangers.

They will run away from them.

The voice of a stranger they know not;

They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that

I am the gate, so you enter in.

Whoever does enter

Will find forgiveness and will be saved.

Nonetheless whoever enters

Not by the gate; other way,

He is the thief and a robber.

Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,

Who laid his own life down for the sheep.

I know them. They know me.

They will live with me eternally.

The thief only comes to steal and

Kill and to destroy the church.

I have come to give you life that

You may have it to the full… 

They know my voice, so they follow me.

https://vimeo.com/114938263

Do Not Be a Hypocrite

An Original Work / May 1, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love