"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness."
- Jesus Christ (Matthew 23:27)
Hypocrisy is defined by Merriam-Webster as "a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not." As a Christian, I believe that all men are commanded to "be . . . perfect, even as [our] Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). I also believe that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). To be Christian, then, is to preach perfection despite personal imperfection. It is to believe one thing and do another. Thus, given the above definition of hypocrisy, every Christian is a hypocrite. So how are we different from the Pharisees which Christ condemned? We admit our hypocrisy, continue to strive for perfection, and rely on the Savior to carry us through to the end.
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