hypocrisy

Hypocrisy

Matthew 23:28- "...on the outside you appear to people as righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." (Jesus talking to the teachers of the law and the Pharisees)

Psalms 26:4- "I do not sit with deceitful men, not do i consort with hypocrites." (-David)

Matthew 6:5- "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men."

Matthew 7:5- "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

1 Peter 2:1-3- "Therefore rid yourself of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of any kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that the Lord is good."

    In Psalms, David says that he just doesn't mix with "the wrong crowd." That's pretty plain and simple.
     In Matthew, Jesus tells us how hypocrites only pray for the benefit of looking like a good Christian, not being one. He warns us against that. Matthew 7:5 is one I'm almost sure everyone has heard before. "Take the plank out of your own eye..." means, when you're without any sort of fault at all whatsoever, then you can "...remove the speck from your brother's eye." or criticize someone else. That's pretty strict, but if you think about it, it's not that bad. It's not that hard to be nice instead of shooting someone down for something they can't help.   Jesus also talks of how the Pharisees and teachers are full of deceit.
     And finally in Peter, Peter tells us to rid ourselves of everything bad. Now naturally we're not going to be perfect, but he's saying to strive for perfection. Don't go after bad things, but after the good, as "...newborn babies crave for pure spiritual milk..." Do this, and your relationship with Christ will prosper to so much more.