The sin of hypocrisy is more common than most people want to admit. Hypocrites cause great pain and discouragement to so many lives. A person who chooses the life of the hypocrite does so willingly with a malicious heart. I’m sure you know someone that has has been hurt by a hypocrite perhaps even you. They are the con-men and con-women of the Church! The Bible predicts this sin will increase all the more as the rapture of the Church gets closer.
1 Timothy 4:1–2 (NKJV) “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,”
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines hypocrisy as, “a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not : behavior that contradicts what one claims to believe or feel“. In the New Testament, the Greek word ‘hupkrites’ is used and it means, “one who acts pretentiously, a counterfeit, a man who assumes and speaks or acts under a feigned character.” For reference, ‘to feign’ is to “pretend”.
A hypocrite is NOT someone who believes something and strives to live out in their lives making mistakes along the way. No, hypocrisy is living a lie. The hypocrite wants everyone to believe the best about them while they live at their worst. When you think of a hypocrite, think words like disingenuous, duplicitous, dishonest, disloyal, and deceitful.
You don’t have to live this way neither do you have to allow it in the lives of those that are close to you. Speak the truth in love and live out a life in the light, honest, forthright, and repentant!
1 John 1:6–10 (NKJV) “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
