Shun all Hypocrisy by Pastor W.F Kumuyi
DAILY MANNA DEVOTIONAL
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2022
SHUN ALL HYPOCRISY
TEXT: LUKE 11:37-45
KEY VERSE: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them” (LUKE 11:44).
One of the most grievious offenses one can commit against God is to be hypocritical. This is pretending to be what you are not. It is to claim to be a child of God, when you know full well that your life does not measure up to His holy standard. It is to demand from others a level of integrity that is absent from one’s own life. God detests hypocrisy in whatever form it manifests.
Jesus condemned “a certain Pharisee” who was his host for elevating unimportant matters like washing of hands which, in any case, was originally intended for priests only, but now made mandatory for all. He chided the Pharisees for their unwillingness to help the poor while insisting on the payment of tithe. He rebuked them for making high demands from ordinary people while excusing themselves from such rigour. He accused them of making other people unclean through their sullied spiritual lives. He condemned them not just for persecuting prophets of God, but rejecting the Almighty Himself. He chided them for erroneously interpreting the Scriptures and therefore, misleading and preventing the people from coming to Christ. Rather than being contrite and sober, they started seeking means to trap Him into making blasphemous statements.
On no account should we turn ourselves into masters deserving adulation by the people of God, for such is the beginning of hypocrisy. We must watch over our lives to ensure we do not set for others standards far stiffer than that demanded by God. We must also not hold others to the injunctions of Scriptures while disobeying the same command. The best way to influence people positively is to let our lives express practically, what God expects from them.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: If your life were a book, what would others read in it?
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: NUMBERS 31-32
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