Chapter 6: Emptying “Hypocrisy” `In the preceding chapters, we examined how we must empty ourselves of pride, which seeks to exalt itself above God, and greed, which is not satisfied with God but continually desires to possess more. Now we turn to another deeply rooted sin: hypocrisy . Hypocrisy is the desire to present to others an image of ourselves that is different from who we really are. It is harboring one thing in our hearts while outwardly behaving as though we think otherwise. It is becoming more conscious of people’s evaluation than of God and decorating our faith accordingly. Therefore, emptying hypocrisy does not begin with trying to appear to others as a better Christian. Rather, it begins with looking honestly at who we really are before God, without hiding anything. We can deceive people. To some extent, we can manage the image that others see. But no mask is of any use before God, because God knows not...
‘According to the grace given us’ [Romans 12:3-8] Am I really living a life of faith? Have you ever asked yourself this question? I think there is no one who has not asked himself this question at some point in his life of faith. Why are we asking ourselves this question? Perhaps one of the reasons is because when we look back on our own lives of faith, we have a guilty conscience that we are not doing something right. How can we know whether or not we are living a life of faith properly? Superficially, when we look at each other and say, ‘Oh, brother and sister, you are working hard in your life of faith’, what do we see and say that? For example, when we see these things, such as diligently coming to the church to worship God, praying very well (of course, attending the early morning prayer meeting diligently), and serving the brothers and sisters diligently while serving the church diligently,...