~ Hypocrisy ~
You, therefore have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgement against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgement on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgement? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?
But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgement will be revealed. God “will give to eat person according to what he has done.” To those who persistence in doing good seek, glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.
— Romans 2:1-11 (NIV) —
When you point the finger at others, God comes back and points His finger back at you… >_< When you go and place yourself above your fellow sinner by passing judgement, a seat reserved for God alone, God will pass judgement upon you in the same exact way, and you will not pass… now replace all the “you” with “me” and the meaning becomes crystal clear…
God’s the judge, you are the sinner… you are saved by the grace of God. Nothing more, nothing less. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” ~ Romans 3:23 Brings back a parable of Jesus, where he speaks of debts being paid… and to remember to treat others as God treats you… (Matthew 18:23-35). God’s mercy and grace is why we are saved because of this we live out our lives as repentant sinners saved by grace and mercy. When we realize this, hypocrisy will lose its hold on us.
If we let hypocrisy harden our hearts and refuse to turn to God, we will have nothing left to us but wrath when Jesus comes back. “Away with you, evildoers!” ~ Luke 13:27 Have to talk the talk and walk the walk. The talk is love, grace, faith, hope, repentance, peace, and truth… so how’s the walk? *sigh* God, forgive my walk. Pitiful thing that it is… and all you asked was for me to follow… God doesn’t play favorites… One way, one truth, one life… Gotta get with the program, God’s program, or else.
Father God, forgive us our sins… as we forgive those who sin against us. Etch this upon our hearts. You came and died for us, those who were dead and without hope. Let us remember the example You set for us on the cross. Where God and man meets… let us keep this in our hearts, so that we may seek Your ways. I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.
Yes, we are all hypocrite. We do not treat everyone the same. We treat our wife, friends, and strangers differently… yea, it favoritism, therefore, we are all sinner. It is differcult to trust everyone completely. We are have different perspective on what is right and what is wrong, that’s why it’s so hard not to judge.
God know everyone’s lifestyle history and past. God understand how they become who they are. As man, we do not see the lifestyle of everyone until we encounter them.
Yea, we shouldn’t judge, we know we shouldn’t. We are only human, it our nature to judge with the perspective of what is wrong and right.
thanks so much! you are wonderful!!
and let me know if there’s anything i can pray for you about, too~ i really appreciate your help =)
God bless~
chapstik2002
Ok, sorry this may take up some space, but I don’t know where else to put my answer.
What does Christianity have that other religions don’t have? Two basic things: A promise of redemption AND a historical act to prove it. Some other religions have historical figures (Mohammed) and most promise some kind of saving or redemption, but Christianity not only promises redemption, it has historical proof that that promise is true and that its claims about the universe and reality are real—the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, which is witnessed by at least four separate historical documents (the Gospels). Some have argued that the Gospels aren’t historical and that Jesus wasn’t real, but many encyclopedias recognize that the Gospels are historical by referencing them, even if they do not admit to their truth. For example, my Encyclopædia Britannica (which as far as I know is a secular book)—the Macropaedia Volume 22—says about Jesus that he “was born in Judaea about 6 BC and died by crucifixion about AD 30.” It doesn’t say he “was said to have been born” or “supposedly died.” Yet, to my knowledge, the only books that speak of his birth are the Gospels, so where else could they get that information? (His death is mentioned briefly in a couple other documents of the time—Tacitus [XV, 44], for one—which only cements that he was a real person.) It says further that “what can be established about the historical Jesus depends almost without exception on Christian traditions, especially on the material used in the composition of the Gospels of Mark, Mathew, and Luke.” From what I understand, they accept some of what the Gospels say, but obviously not the miracles. Because they approach their study already believing miracles can’t happen, they discount them before they look at the evidence—the witnesses in the Gospels who saw these things happen. Shouldn’t you look at the evidence first and then decide whether or not there are miracles? Now some will say that they’ve never seen miracles, miracles are not part of the natural world, therefore there can never be miracles. The problem with this is that of course miracles aren’t part of the natural world—by definition they are breaking the natural laws. Therefore, just because you haven’t seen one, if there is a sound believable witness who has, you have proof that there’s been a miracle. This is what we have in the Bible—witnesses to Jesus’ death and then his resurrection. “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.” (1 Cor 15:3-8)
Ok, now why is it important that Jesus died and lived again? Why does the whole Christian religion hang on this one event? Paul says, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” (1 Cor 15:17) It’s important for a spiritual reason and important for a historical one. Spiritually, when Christ died, as Paul says, He died for our sins. Because he died, each of us who accepts Him can live even though we sin and screw up because He’s already paid the price. We know because He was raised that God will raise us, too, when the time comes, that we will live forever with Him! Historically, His resurrection is vital, too, because it is a miraculous event (like the others He performed before His death). They are signs that the One talking is telling the truth. Hey, if He can break natural laws there must be something to Him. Pay attention! is what they say. This guy’s no ordinary human. God, the Maker of the natural laws, is on His side. Only the Maker can break His own laws, so Jesus is either a man of God or He is God. Neither would lie about his true position (you can bet the man of God would be in big trouble with God if he did! and obviously wouldn’t be able to go on performing miracles) and Jesus claims to be God. And He has the proof! The signs He performed and the witnesses who saw them.
Ok, I knew this would be long but I hope I’ve made sense. I know some good books that explain this a TON better than me if you’d like me to recommend.
Peace and cheers,