Well then, if you teach others, why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal? You say it is wrong to commit adultery, but do you commit adultery? (Romans 2:21-22)The guy walks into the new gym class to lead calisthenics. He is smoking a cigarette, is at least 60 pounds overweight, sounds like a freight train when he walks up the stairs and is coming in to show you how to get in shape.
He is kind of like the girl who was describing the various coffees in a coffee shop one time. I asked her which one she liked. Oh, she said, I don’t like coffee, I drink tea. But, she assured me, she had tasted all of them.
It would be like me working in a butcher shop where I had to help people buy liver. I hate it so I don’t want to sell it.
The preacher preaching morality who is an adulterer, the butcher selling meat who is a vegetarian, the beer truck driver selling alcohol who is a tee-totaler, the Republican party chairman who is a Democrat – all people doing something with no credibility.
If I go to get in shape, I want someone who is in shape to guide me, not some guy like me.
I went to a weight loss clinic once out of curiosity, the slim girl behind the desk assured me that is was a good company. Have you lost any weight yourself, I asked? Oh, yes, sir, she replied. I have lost seven pounds. No. I want some woman who had lost 110 pounds to show me how it worked.
That is why Jesus said in Matthew 23 not to seek those titles, primarily that of Teacher, because it opens you up for so much criticism, especially if people see that you are not living your life like you tell others to live.
Any time you condemn some one else, you need to look at your own life first. You need to jettison the stuff that is keeping you back.
We must strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up (Hebrews 12:1). If we don’t, we have got a lot of trouble convincing others to do the same.
The father who steals office supplies from work, the mother who tells her children to tell the guy on the phone she is not here, the teenaged girls who lies about why she can’t go to the party and then shows up with someone else, the boss who tells you what a financial strait the company is in and then gives himself a raise. One who preaches sacrifice but lives large themselves.
You cannot divorce a teacher from what he or she teaches. You are your message. Be the right message.
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