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Dear Young Christian:
The Lord said, “Thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are” (Matthew 6:5). What is a hypocrite? Someone who pretends to be something that they are not. Jesus condemned hypocrisy very strongly simply because the hypocrite put on a show for others to think that he was righteous when, in fact, his heart was not right with God. Perhaps it is best summed up in the Lord’s own words, “Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matthew 23:28).
Are you the same every day of the week? This is a very searching question that also needs to be answered by those of us who are not young any more. Often we tend to be one thing on Sunday and another on Monday; one thing in front of our family or other believers, and another thing when we are at school or work. The Lord does not want our lives to be a cover-up. He wants genuine reality and righteousness. “The wisdom that is from above is … without hypocrisy” (James 3:17).
Your Christian Friend,
Jim Hyland
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