Mental Health: A Cause to Live For (part 1 of 4)
Hypocrite: Pretending to be something you are not.
Even though you may be a new creature in Christ, your emotions, your behavior, and certain thoughts from the devil may be declaring you to be a member of the great unwashed. Thus you begin to question your salvation.
If you act on such lies, then you will be pretend¬ing to be something you are not. This would make you a hypocrite! However, by applying only a mustard seed of faith, your mind can agree with God's view of your new identity. You must frequently act like, live like who you are despite what your emotions and the Deceiver insist. This is the only way any of us can avoid the label hypocrite.
The Holy Spirit within us causes us to be overwhelmed by the pure, undiluted grace and agape-love of God toward us. He leads us to be in awe of such a gracious God, who did not shrink even from sacrificing His Dearly Beloved Son on our behalf, that we, the unworthy objects of such mercy and affection, wonder of all wonders, might also become sons of God via rebirth in Christ.
What manner of love is this who extends infinite grace to the undeserving, seats us at His royal table to celebrate the most regal banquet of infinitythe marriage of His dear Soneven seats us in the place reserved for the beloved bride-elect! As if that were not far more than we could entertain with our finite minds, what manner of love would motivate Christ, our Bridegroom, the reigning Ruler of Creation, to lay aside His infinitely high position, to devote 33 painful years to His favorite love-objectyouthat would culminate in allowing His own creation to torture the very Author of life until He died, while praying for God to forgive us? Worthy of all praise is the Living God, 24/7!
Focusing on this truth, supersaturating your mind with it, is a cause worth living for, worth dying for; a cause that yields mental health.