I’m afflicted with hypocricy, and so are you.

hypocrisy hi-pok-ruh-se

—noun, plural hy·poc·ri·sies.

1. a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.

Each of our hypocritical offensives are answerable in due measure to the degree of our infractions. Mine are answerable more so, because I know better (at least, I am supposed to). To pretend is to lie. To lie is to deceive. To deceive is to dishonor. To dishonor in any way, is to be against Christ and God.

To write on spiritual matters you must always hold that mirror to oneself first. This serves to add clarity by your own example, thus making it clear your intention not to exempt yourself from criticism. In the hopes of redemption by his works and faith, the Apostle Paul held himself first as the worst offender of the faith and it’s most ardent supporter.

At the time of this writing, the journal Science published a study about the decline of bird populations in the United States and Canada for the last 50 years. Their findings conclude a drop by 29 percent , that’s 2.9 billion less birds in the air, causing genuine shock to the researchers and conservation organizations alike. This should spark outcries from each one of us on earth! We are literally killing off God’s glorious creation, the Earth, at an alarming rate, due to our selfish belief that we have the right to do so.

I personally love cars and motorcycles, the kinds that spew poisons into the air and kills beautiful birds. I’m also a defender of the right to drive these pollution machines. I am a hypocrite. My claim to caring (I’m writing this article) and my actions are in-your-face mismatched. My intent here is not to write about conservation (although it’s becoming the most important issue of our day), but to use that as an example of the limitless hypocrisies we perform everyday, from innocent to blatant.

Many of us make claims to caring about something, only to regularly contribute to it’s demise – hypocrisy.

During his ministry, Jesus accused the Pharisees of hypocrisy repeatedly. His point was simple, God is not impressed by our outward display of faith, but instead by our actions that prove we mean what we say, what we believe, what we think. To be genuine, next to faith itself, is what God asks of us, to own and live by what we believe.

My own offenses are embarrassing, too embarrassing to tell, and they’re repeated over and over again. God watches as I ask for forgiveness, only to deny my vow, and offend again. Most of us simply lower the bar below what we know we can achieve, giving a false sense of successful living. We muddy the standards, so that we can let slip by these offenses in the gray-zone area of doubt.

The more I pursue what it takes to get close and connected to God, the more I find how difficult it is. If I am trying and it is hard, how can those that do not try expect to achieve anything at all?

Perhaps, I am wrong. Simply having faith in God is good enough. I should just let go of the yoke of guilt and be satisfied with my genuine belief in God and the power of Christ. Just live freely knowing that God forgives all and Jesus offered himself as sacrifice for our sinful ways to erase all debt. But this is not what I truly believe. Alignment of our energies and thoughts with the way we live daily and the works we do is the spiritual task for genuine and proper connection with God.

Hypocrisy is not a crime against humanity, but it is an offense to God and Christ, simply because you don’t mean what you say.

Hypocrisy is a mis-aligned state-of-being. It means that what you are thinking and what you are doing do not match up. Hence, your progress will be ineffective, whether you are judged for it or not. Even if no one is affected by your behavior, you will be, and you cancel out any worthiness. One step forward, one step back.

If you’re dieting and don’t eat a cookie, but eat French fries, assuming for our argument they’re the same calories, you’ll get nowhere fooling yourself by denying the cookie.

The sadness is people may be truly trying to reach a connection with God, but they go nowhere because of the multitude of hypocritcal forces within them, and then they are left wondering why they have failed. You must be prepared to align all of yourself to the pursuit of God and Christ’s teachings, otherwise, your hypocrisy will leave you with nothing.

I know, because I refuse the cookie and eat the fries.