Proverbs 10:18
He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.
The Word of God is not only concerned with our actions; it also challenges the intentions of our heart. In the case of our text today, the Word instructs us that to entertain evil thoughts against someone while at the same time outwardly acting friendly towards them, is as foolish as to openly let out our negativity towards them.
The Word doesn’t leave much room for hypocrisy. The word ‘hypocrite’ means ‘one who pretends to own a virtue that he does not possess’. The word ‘hypocrisy’ also comes from the Greek word, “actor’. When we entertain evil thoughts that, for a reason or another we do not want to reveal, we put on an act. But eventually, our words or our actions betray us. It is often practiced in politics; it is called ‘diplomacy’. It is also practiced in commerce; it is called ‘good business’. But whatever man calls it for whatever reason, God calls is foolish.
Now if we try to make peace with someone by doing the right thing and being nice to them when we don’t feel like it, this is different. This is almost viewed to God as a sweet flavored sacrifice of obedience. The idea here is to truly repair the breach in communication; to truly heal the relationship. It s not just to apply some cosmetic cream or powder on the wounds in order to alleviate the pain or hide the scar, and try to pretend it is not there.
When Moses was instructed to build the Ark of the Covenant, he was told to make it of acacia wood laid in gold inside and outside. We can easily question the purpose of the expensive inside layer. This is a sample to teach us that we must strive for our hearts to be pure on the outside that every can see, but also on the inside that only God can see.
He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.
The Word of God is not only concerned with our actions; it also challenges the intentions of our heart. In the case of our text today, the Word instructs us that to entertain evil thoughts against someone while at the same time outwardly acting friendly towards them, is as foolish as to openly let out our negativity towards them.
The Word doesn’t leave much room for hypocrisy. The word ‘hypocrite’ means ‘one who pretends to own a virtue that he does not possess’. The word ‘hypocrisy’ also comes from the Greek word, “actor’. When we entertain evil thoughts that, for a reason or another we do not want to reveal, we put on an act. But eventually, our words or our actions betray us. It is often practiced in politics; it is called ‘diplomacy’. It is also practiced in commerce; it is called ‘good business’. But whatever man calls it for whatever reason, God calls is foolish.
Now if we try to make peace with someone by doing the right thing and being nice to them when we don’t feel like it, this is different. This is almost viewed to God as a sweet flavored sacrifice of obedience. The idea here is to truly repair the breach in communication; to truly heal the relationship. It s not just to apply some cosmetic cream or powder on the wounds in order to alleviate the pain or hide the scar, and try to pretend it is not there.
When Moses was instructed to build the Ark of the Covenant, he was told to make it of acacia wood laid in gold inside and outside. We can easily question the purpose of the expensive inside layer. This is a sample to teach us that we must strive for our hearts to be pure on the outside that every can see, but also on the inside that only God can see.
1 comment:
I appreciate your analogy regarding the gold "inside" the Ark of the Covenent.
Also the description of the word hypocrite.
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