Oct 2, 2017

Genesis 38:24 (NKJV)

“…Judah was told, saying, ‘Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot; furthermore she is with child by harlotry.’ So Judah said, ‘Bring her out and let her be burned!’”

Many of us are hypocrites; what Jesus called “white washed sepulchers;” tombs that look pretty on the outside but are filled with dead men’s bones on the inside. Hypocrisy is the name of today’s religious game. We show ourselves as holy and others as evil, while in reality, we are just as evil as they are; indeed more so since we add the sin of self-righteousness to our list of crimes.

Judah was willing to burn Tamar his daughter-in-law alive for harlotry when he had practiced the harlotry with her. Even if he hadn’t been caught, how could he have had peace with himself knowing he had slept with a harlot three months earlier and he was willing to kill someone who had fallen into the same.

Don’t practice self-righteousness. You are saved by grace and not by your works of righteousness. Be merciful to those who still practice sin. Detest the sin but show compassion on the sinner, knowing even you still struggle with certain aspects of sinfulness even till today. Don’t set yourself up as the judge. Go forth and touch people with the love of the Savior. That’s the Jesus-life as opposed to the hypocritical Pharisees.

“Lord, I am on a journey of self-discovery. I stumble many times on this journey, and You see me struggle through many things. For these reasons, Lord, help me practice honesty and patience with others who have fallen or who are struggling with some things. Soften my heart Oh Lord, knowing that I still struggle with so many things. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.”