Monday, July 18, 2016

I Confess I'm a Hypocrite



I confess I'm a hypocrite.
I'm a Christian and yep...I'm a hypocrite. 

I tell my kids not to do things I have done.
I give advice to others that I don't take myself.
I know the best and right way to honor God with my words and my actions and I do the opposite.

I am selfish.
I am prideful.
I am human.

I am a sinner who needs a savior. 

I am in good company too...because I'm guessing, unless your name is Jesus, you are the worst of all sinners just like me, just like Paul (1 Timothy 1:15-16).

We (you and me) justify our choices, actions, and behavior.  

We normalize. "Everyone sins." 
We  downsize."It's not that big of a deal."
We minimize. "It doesn't hurt anyone."
We trivialize. "It's just a little sin."
We strategize.  "If no one knows..." 
We personalize. "It's my life."
We hypothesize. "If he didn't do that then I wouldn't have done this."  
We  criticize. "He did that wrong."
We generalize. "Everyone does it."
We  overemphasize. "It feels right." 
We glamorize."I'm cool if I_________."
We legitimatize. "It's okay because so many people say it is."
We polarize."If you don't agree you are against me." 

We forget grace. 

We forget truth. 

We focus on people pleasing and justification rather than God-glorification.

I need to ask myself, What is my measuring stick? My feelings? My perception? The culture? Other people's behavior or beliefs? 

Or is Jesus and His Father's never changing and always living word my plumb-line? 

The WWJD (What Would Jesus Do ) movement of the late 1990s was an attempt to encourage Christians to act like Christ would act. 

To not be a hypocrite.

It's a good start. To act like Jesus. Yet I need to dig further. I want to be more like Jesus and less like... me. I am a sinner who wants to honor and glorify God. I want to synthesize my faith and my life. 

I don't want to be a hypocrite. 

The  solution to the sinner struggle is confession, surrender, and repentance.

My Father's will, not mine. 

So....how do I know my Father's will and how do I get to know the person of Jesus? I read his word, I pray, I join in a community of believers---who to be honest---are all hypocrites just like me.  We are saved sinners struggling to be like Jesus who frees us and delivers us from our human nature. 

 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:21-25a



If you liked this post you may enjoy: How to Grow Your Child's Conscience
by,
Lori Wildenberg
Co-founder of 1 Corinthians 13 Parenting, co-author of 3 parenting books. Click here to schedule Lori  for your next event. She is available of special engagements, retreats, and workshops. Stop by the 1 Corinthians 13 Parenting store for gift items, books, and faith wear. 


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14 comments:

  1. I definitely need to read this every day for a month or so. Great opportunity to do a little soul searching.

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  2. Very honest, very true, very good. Thanks for posting.

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    1. Thanks for you comment Bernie. I'm feeling convicted...

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  3. This right here: I need to ask myself, What is my measuring stick? My feelings? My perception? The culture? Other people's behavior or beliefs?
    I think this is where we get into trouble. We compare ourselves against broken things and call ourselves good instead of chasing after wholeness and healing. Great post.

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    1. Yes and Amen...we can always find someone we think is worse....

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  4. When we look at our ownselves and how short we fall from being the christian we should be, we don't have time to nit pick others.

    focus on doing better today than we did yesterday.

    spreading-joy.org
    marie

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    1. Yep..I have enough to worry about! Thanks for your comment Marie.

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  5. Thank you for being honest. We all fall short, but that shouldn't be our excuse to continue to fall and fall even more. We should strive to live a life that will let others see Jesus in us. Your post made me look deaper at myself. Thank you for that. ��

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    1. Thanks for your words Tammy. :) and ya..that conviction is a thing isn't it?

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  6. Honest and true!!! We are all hypocrites and judge people way too harshly!!

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    1. I know I need to give others the pass I give myself.

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  7. Thank you for posting this. Took a lot of courage and spot on.

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    1. Thanks. HA ! I wonder if it was bravery or foolishness. LOL!

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