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Matthew 23:25-28. Inside and Outside. 15 Oct 2023

Mat 23:25 'Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites!
You clean the outside of cup and dish
and leave the inside full of extortion and intemperance.
26 Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of cup and dish first
so that it and the outside are both clean.
27 'Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites!
You are like whitewashed tombs
that look handsome on the outside,
but inside are full of the bones of the dead
and every kind of corruption.
28 In just the same way,
from the outside you look upright,
but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Excerpt from THE NEW JERUSALEM BIBLE, copyright (c) 1985 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd. and Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc. Reprinted by Permission.

I tend to show myself to the outer world better than I am in reality. I hide my failures, my pain, my loneliness, etc. Actually I behave foolish in doing so. Normal people have more liking for real people who can show their struggles than for dishonest persons who pretend. Showing my reality however takes a lot of courage.

Prayer

Jesus, redeem me from pretending.