• Hi Guest!

    Please share Talk Jesus community on every platform you have to give conservatives an outlet and safe community to be apart of.

    Support This Community

    Thank You

  • Welcome to Talk Jesus

    A true bible based, Jesus centered online community. Join over 12,500 members today

    Register Log In

Word for Today / Don’t Be A Hypocrite

Moderator
Staff Member
Don’t Be A Hypocrite

‘All their works they do to be seen by men.’ Matthew 23:5 NKJV

Here’s a working definition of the word hypocrisy: ‘to be seen by men’. Jesus had a no-tolerance policy when it came to hypocrisy. Why? Because He knew it turns people against God. Instead, He taught:

(1) Expect no credit for your good deeds. None. If no one notices, you aren’t disappointed. If someone does, you give the credit to God. Stop and ask yourself this question: ‘If no one knew of the good I do, would I still do it?’ If not, you’re doing it ‘to be seen’ by people.

(2) Give your financial gifts in secret. Money stirs the phony within us. We like to be seen earning it. And we like to be seen giving it. So Jesus said, ‘When you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.’(Matthew 6:3 NLT)

(3) Don’t fake your spirituality. When you go to church, don’t select a seat just to be seen, or sing just to be heard. If you raise your hands in worship, raise holy ones, not showy ones. When you talk, don’t doctor your vocabulary with trendy religious terms. Nothing nauseates more than a fake ‘Praise the Lord’, or a shallow ‘Hallelujah’, or an insincere ‘Glory be to God!’

Ever watch children in a playground shouting, ‘Watch me!’ That’s acceptable because they’re still immature, but it’s not acceptable in God’s kingdom. Silence the trumpets. Cancel the parade. Enough with the name-dropping. If accolades come, politely deflect them before you believe them. Slay the desire to be noticed. Stir the desire to serve God. In other words, don’t be a hypocrite!

written by Bob Gass
 
Moderator
Staff Member
Thanks for sharing this LLJ.

Good reminder for us all. Sometimes we have to look real hard at ourselves (our self's) and let the Lord show us the truth. He will because He loves us and wants to and will finish that which He has started in us, to the glory and praise of God.

One problem we can encounter about ourselves is that we tend to prefer to deny that we might have done anything as awful as hypocrisy. That doesn't equate to denying ourselves but loving our life. Not a wise choice.

We like to exhort one another to obey the Lord and His commandments but when it comes to what He said about loving our life we prefer to be seen to be clean and quickly throw a smoke screen by doing the Pharisee dance and pointing out someone else's fault.

Let's get serious about our own walk and realise that others need encouragement as much as we do. Get serious about facing up to the challenge we see in the OP and know that it is OK by the Lord to admit to it because then He can help us change.

In fact he will do a change in us.

Such is His love.

Bless you ....><>
 
Loyal
Very good teaching. I have question for anyone especially you LLJ

giving is to be done is secrete as Jesus states, I agree with that because most men can not give in public with out being prideful so giving in secrete is a safe way to stay away from pride, this I understand.

However we also need role models in the church, the bible also says to pray in secrete yet we as a church pray together in public.

So what I am getting at is for me I know its best to give in secrete because I fear pride, but the real context of that scripture is we give in secrete so we do not become prideful imo, so is it actually telling us to give in secrete????? Because as I was saying we need role models as GIVERS in the church, we as Christians in America are terrible givers absolutely terrible. So if we had more role models I believe it would help. I see Randy ALcorn as a Role model and since reading his books and listening to him speak on giving I have seen the light. Randy has given away more then 10million dollars from his book royalties and lives a very humble middle class life style. He is Role model and when he shares his giving habits its not out of pride but out of the need to help out of Love for spreading the gospel. I personally could not do that as I know I would get prideful. But I think we need role models, the bibles says if you give you give in secrete our heavenly father will reward us in secrete but the whole context is avoiding pride so I would not think someone like Randy who is not prideful would not loose his rewards???

So just wondering how you guys feel about role models on giving?? me I am very mixed about it but have seen what it has done for me seeing the light and would hate for someone else to miss that. So done correctly I think we need Role models for givers, just like we already have role models for prayer warriors

God Blesses us so we can bless others not so our life styles can increase IMO
 
Moderator
Staff Member
Greetings Dave,

I know you want LLJ to answer so please excuse me...

Our Father is our best role model.
How often did Jesus say to folks to not tell or say about Him? When crucified was it in the town square or... outside the city walls?
We need to look to Him.
I hear what you are saying about Randy but I hope he'd say much the same thing.

Bless you ....><>
 
Active
1 Corinthians 3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. KJV

2 Corinthians 4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. KJV

John 3:28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. 29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease. KJV

John 5:31 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. KJV

John 7:18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. KJV

John 8:17 It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. KJV

So when we witness of Jesus Christ & Him crucified, how can our individual witness be true in the eyes of God and His words when I preach the gospel alone to others in the world or in the church or in the forum?

John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: 27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

That is how and why when I witness or any individual witness of Jesus Christ & Him crucified is because that witness is also being shared by the Holy Spirit's in us for why our witness of Jesus Christ is true.

So where should the spotlight be in our witness in church in seeking the glory of God by? Not on ourselves.. as in look at me.. nor on the Holy Spirit as in look at "Him" moving here and there outside of us. but as led by the indwelling Holy Spirit, our focus and spotlight will always be on the Son in witnessing as that even includes our witness in worship for it is by honoring the Son in seeking His glory is how we as led by the Spirit of God can honor the Father in seeking His glory by way of the Son.
 
Loyal
Don’t Be A Hypocrite

‘All their works they do to be seen by men.’ Matthew 23:5 NKJV

Here’s a working definition of the word hypocrisy: ‘to be seen by men’. Jesus had a no-tolerance policy when it came to hypocrisy. Why? Because He knew it turns people against God. Instead, He taught:

(1) Expect no credit for your good deeds. None. If no one notices, you aren’t disappointed. If someone does, you give the credit to God. Stop and ask yourself this question: ‘If no one knew of the good I do, would I still do it?’ If not, you’re doing it ‘to be seen’ by people.

(2) Give your financial gifts in secret. Money stirs the phony within us. We like to be seen earning it. And we like to be seen giving it. So Jesus said, ‘When you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.’(Matthew 6:3 NLT)

(3) Don’t fake your spirituality. When you go to church, don’t select a seat just to be seen, or sing just to be heard. If you raise your hands in worship, raise holy ones, not showy ones. When you talk, don’t doctor your vocabulary with trendy religious terms. Nothing nauseates more than a fake ‘Praise the Lord’, or a shallow ‘Hallelujah’, or an insincere ‘Glory be to God!’

Ever watch children in a playground shouting, ‘Watch me!’ That’s acceptable because they’re still immature, but it’s not acceptable in God’s kingdom. Silence the trumpets. Cancel the parade. Enough with the name-dropping. If accolades come, politely deflect them before you believe them. Slay the desire to be noticed. Stir the desire to serve God. In other words, don’t be a hypocrite!

written by Bob Gass

Agreed! But, may I add a word of caution here? I believe we must be careful that we don't label any particular people as hypocrites or as fakes or as those who are doing something to be seen of men when that may not be true about them at all, and because we are measuring them by ourselves, or by others we have known, or by human standards and traditions, instead of by the Word of God. We don't know what is in other people's hearts. Jesus did. He could see into the hearts of Pharisees, and know that they were doing their good deeds to be seen of men. We don't know other people's motivations unless we truly know those people, and we know they are speaking one thing while living just the opposite on a pretty consistent basis. We can hurt other believers and the cause of Christ if we are too quick to judge others' actions, when their actions are not obvious sins against God. So, just saying we should be careful to make our judgments by the Word of God and not by our own feelings, experiences, attitudes, traditions, etc. We should not be quick to judge other people's words or their motivations and assign to them that they are doing a "watch me" or that they are wanting the praise of men, when the opposite may be true. Thanks for listening.
 
Top