.jpeg)
Have you encountered people who are polite and cordial on the outside but are quiet the opposite of who they are within? Welcome to the world of deception and dichotomy! Pretending to be good has become a common trait, especially among people who are associated daily. People’s intentions and actions don’t match. We are more concerned about people having a good impression about us rather than being authentically good.
Words can be far disconnected from what is really in one’s heart. Sweet words become deceptive when they are used to mask hidden, negative, or selfish intentions, functioning as a form of manipulation ("sugar on their lips and poison in their heart"). This often occurs when individuals use flattery to gain trust, hide jealousy, or disguise harmful actions. It is a sign of deceit when actions do not match the spoken words, often leaving behind a trail of disappointment and ruin.
In the Bible, the wisest king Solomon warns people who encounter such people or situations by saying, “When you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you; And put a knife to your throat If you are a man given to appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food. Do not eat the bread of a miser, nor desire his delicacies; for it’s like someone calculating inwardly. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. You will vomit the little you’ve eaten and waste our pleasant words.” (Proverbs 23:1-7 Bible).
The above could be one category of people but we have encountered same or similar people in life. When bitterness is developed people act obnoxiously. Bible warns us and states, “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.” The bitterness harms the one who has it than to whom the person is showing to. The root cause I feel is because of the lack of honesty or the genuine motive to reconcile and set things right. People would rather pretend and betray people into believing they are good than intentionally taking the effort to be good.
Fyoder Dostoevsky cites this beautifully, “People really do like seeing their best friends humiliated; a large part of the friendship is based on humiliation; and that is an old truth, well known to all intelligent people.”
I am sure this quote is relatable. When our hearts are not filled by Christ’s love it learns to live with constant contradiction. In book of John in the Bible we find strong words against hatred. It says, “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him”. Hating your brother equals to murdering, isn’t that serious? The problem of the heart is so complex that we all usually let evil slide. When we operate based on power, self-righteousness, racism, egoism we do no longer have Christ’s love in us. When Christ transforms us, we become transformed and transparent. We can be transformed provided we are willing to ask forgiveness from the muck of self-righteousness and accept Christ transforming love by faith. Repentance from sins and accepting Christ in your heart as your Savior is the only way that assures us forgiveness and eternity. Would you like to know Christ more?
