Spotting the fake

If there’s one thing most of us can’t stand, it’s a fake, a hypocrite, someone who’s one thing on the outside and something different on the inside. 

In 2 Timothy chapter 3, the apostle Paul writes about hypocrites and the terrible danger they pose to you and me. He shows clearly, how they hold to an outward form of godliness, but inside there’s all this rottenness. 

Jesus said the same thing. The religious leaders of His time, the Pharisees, appeared so godly on the outside, yet look at what Jesus called them in Matthew chapter 23 – blind, greedy, hypocrites!

But what happens when we are the hypocrite? 

It can tear us apart. And the only way out of this dilemma is a change of heart.

Let me give you an example. I used to be a chain smoker. I tried to give up. I tried severally but never could. But one day, I watched a woman breathe her last breath on this earth and die of cancer. She’d been a smoker.

It was years ago, but I remember it as if it was yesterday. I walked out of that room, threw my cigarettes in a grey metal bin, and I haven’t smoked a single one since.

Why? Because watching that woman die changed my heart. For ages, I lied to myself and others. I tried to be one thing on the outside, but I was something else in secret – until that change of heart.

This is why we’re talking here about the importance of a clean heart. Unless God changes our hearts, nothing’s going to change in our lives.

But here’s the amazing news, God wants to transform our hearts. 

He wants to do things in us that we can’t do for ourselves. 

My friend, who you are deep down inside determines your life.

It’s either going to give you a wonderful life that’s a blessing to you and others, where you have the power to love, sacrifice, and serve. 

Or it’s going to give you a rotten, stunted life of selfishness.

So let’s stop tinkering at the edges. A real and decisive change that once and for all sets us free comes from the power of God, the Holy Spirit. 

Real change comes from God Himself, transforming your heart. 

Life application questions

• Read through Paul’s words to Timothy. What makes the hypocrite such a dangerous person?
• Have you ever known someone who preached one thing but practiced another? What kind of fruit did you see come from that way of living?
• Have you ever felt like you’re kidding yourself and others, pretending to be something that you’re not? How did you resolve the dilemma – or are you still in it, right now, today?
• Spend some time reflecting on God’s desire to change your heart. He wants to change your heart and set you free. How does that change your perspective on the struggles you’re going through right now?