Tag Archives: selfindulgence

Do you allow too much self-indulgence in your lifestyle? Let God help you; He will!

Major Objections to Faith, Matthew, The Church is Full of Hypocrites, ,

The Church is Full of Hypocrites
An Unbalanced Life – Part 2

Scripture Reading: Matthew 23:23-26

Key Verse: Matthew 23:23

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.

In verse 25 of our scripture reading for today, we read the spiritual condition of the Pharisees: “you clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” You can see why the Pharisees hated Jesus and eventually headed up the revolt to have Him crucified. They knew what this illustration was saying about their spiritual condition; they understood that Jesus was calling them out for their hypocrisy. They looked clean to the people around them, but God looked on the inside and saw their greed and self-indulgence. Had they been honest about their condition, God would have quickly forgiven them and helped them in this weakness of theirs.

Whenever we sense that we have a weakness that does not indicate that we are hypocrites for claiming to have a relationship with Jesus. Part of Christian growth is slowly, over our lifetime, seeing areas that need work. What does make us hypocrites is, when in those moments when the Spirit points out our weaknesses, we cover it up. God does not want us to try to fool others that we are always OK and need no correction or rebuke from our Father in heaven.

Since Jesus mentions greed and self-indulgence in the case of the Pharisees, let me use them to start our self-examinations. You may not have problems with these two, but many do. Ask the Holy Spirit if you should work on one or both areas. Is there some greed lurking in your mind and heart? Do you allow too much self-indulgence in your lifestyle? Let God help you; He will!

Father, I want to grow in my walk with you. Open my eyes to the weak areas I should work on today! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.