Everybody, what is going on?

You know what time it is.

You're listening to join the Journey podcast with your host, Emma, daughter.

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Today, we're asking the question, are you confident you're not a hypocrite?

We read Matthew 23, and in today's Devo, Sarah reminded us that in the course of life,

we often find ourselves in situations where we look

at the sins of others and forget our own. We forget that Jesus was born, lived, and died for

all of our sins, and not just some. The truth is that while we are called to live above reproach,

we are never meant to do so in hopes of praise. Being like a Pharisee can look like

seeking the applause of those around us, but a Phariseical heart can also manifest itself in different

ways. Maybe it's thinking all Christians need to study their Bibles in the same way you do,

or thinking, at least I don't struggle with that sin. Or maybe it's believing the lie that if you just study

your Bible enough or do enough things for God, he'll answer your prayers more powerfully. Or maybe it's

thinking less about those who don't know as much about the Bible as you do. When I graduated from

the Watermark Institute, our lead pastor Blake encouraged me to read a book that's called

accidental Pharisees.

In it, the author writes,

The bottom line is that as long as my only image of a Pharisee is that of a spiritual loser and perennial enemy of Jesus,

I'll never recognize the clear and present danger in my own life.

I'll never realize that it's often a very short and

subtle journey from being zealous for God to being unintentionally opposed to God, he says.

...