Death to Hypocrisy!!!!!!

Good morning everyone. I have a question for you. What does your day consist of? Do you help others? Do you go out of your way to lift others up? Are you actively seeking to do good? There is something powerful about a life of doing good deeds for other people. This picture above is an awesome woman of God holding an armless orphaned baby. Her name is Mother Teresa. When Mother Teresa was alive, she had totally earned the respect of the entire planet because of her work in the streets of Calcutta, India. Let's dig into the good stuff and see what God's Word shows us.........

Bible Verse: Matthew 5:15-16 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

When you do good things for others, you too will earn a reputation at your workplace, neighborhood, or school as someone who loves God and loves others. This reputation can totally open the door for you to share Jesus in a powerful way. Check this out! I had a guy at work that is not a Christian call me out of the blue a while back and ask me if I would pray for him. He said that he knew I would give him good advice about the problems he was having and would pray for him. If my lamp would've been hidden, he never would have come to me. The best part was I was able to share the gospel with him!

 That’s just a couple of the reasons why a life of doing good is a critical piece of our God-given faith sharing gear. And as Christians we need to exercise this so that we learn to use this piece of gear effectively. It is just another tool.

Now we are coming to the hard to hear part. Hypocrisy! We can't just talk the talk. We have to walk the walk. Hypocrisy was one of the subjects most commonly associated with Christians and Christianity. This is why it is so important that we understand that how we live their lives before the world really does matter. Sharing their faith isn’t just about words, it’s also about actions. Plowing the spiritual soil with a life of good deeds opens doors for the gospel. It also allows us to shed light on Christ to a watching world, for we must always remember that 2 Corinthians 5:20 tells us We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

Ok. So here's a list of some things we can try to get started down this road. I encourage one to try one or more of the following:

 •Buy lunch for someone

 •Invite someone to the coffee shop for a long conversation about how they’re doing
 •Write notes of encouragement to those who seem down - either pen and paper notes or Facebook posts will work
 •Take time to listen
 •Help others with their work
 •Sit with somebody during lunch you don’t know well and get to know him or her
 •Coordinate a school-wide or work-wide canned food drive for a local rescue mission (Knox Area Rescue Ministry)
 •Coordinate a toy drive for kids / Help with Operation R.E.A.C.H.
 •Help someone in your neighborhood with the yard work that is in need
 •Get a group of friends or co-workers to visit a retirement center on a Saturday just to talk to the elderly and to encourage them

I challenge you to be creative. The list of possibilities is almost endless. The point is to motivate and mobilize ourselves to live a life of good deeds - not to “earn” their way to heaven - but so that the term “Christian hypocrisy” can buried. We can do it! Let's see that a life of good deeds that opens doors for the good news of the gospel and allows the light of Christ to shine in their lives for all the world to see! I pray you have a great day and God bless!