Happy Thursday

Signs of a Pharisee:

1. You find yourself adhering to every church fast. You faithfully celebrate every holy day. You rarely miss a church service, but you still refuse to acknowledge the homeless man on the corner, and you don't even know your neighbor's name. (After all, they are a different denomination than you.)

2. You faithfully take part in religious practices, but refuse to "get your hands dirty" helping the least of these, and if you do help the "least of these" you are certain to make sure that everyone else knows your good deeds.

3. You pray really loud. You enjoy showboating at church. 
After all, loud prayers show others that you are more holy than they are.

4. You refuse to associate with anyone of a "lesser" denomination, and you look down upon those who aren't a part of your faith. You also typically view those who belong to other religions as inferior.

5. You love a good bible debate. You know every fact and tidbit of history associated with your religion so that you can defend your beliefs, but you forsake "weighty matters such as justice and mercy." 

6. You follow every part of your church's rules and laws, but rarely experience the freedom of joy in your sonship in Christ. 

7. You believe that you are in danger of hellfire because you missed a church service, not realizing that the Bible says that salvation is not obtained through works. Salvation is a gift and not obtained through our own efforts.

8. You do lots of works in order to gain brownie points with God and others, but you still have no love for certain groups of people.

9. You never question your religious leaders. After all, they are always right and false teachings only apply to "one of the lesser denominations."

10. You faithfully give money to your church, but fail to notice or help the suffering people around you. When you see them, you refuse to lift a finger toward them and justify your coldness by saying things like, "God only helps those who help themselves" even though the Bible says, "If you see a brother in need and do not help that person, how can the love of God be in you?"

11. You consider yourself as better than most others. After all, you are holy and saved and know everything about your religion. 

12. You don't believe that sharing the Good News is your responsibility. Instead, you invite others to your church, and then condemn them when they refuse to accompany you. 

13. You are always looking to "convert" others to your way of thinking but rarely care about spending time with them or getting to know them.

14. Salvation, to you, is a numbers game. You look to win souls, not because you love others, but because your "leader" told you to bring others into the "church." After all, the greater the numbers, the more money to fuel the religious system and pay the religious leaders.

15. You might be a Pharisee if inwardly you are gloating because this describes so many people that you know. You somehow feel as if you are now "better than they are," not realizing that the religious spirit behind the Pharisees is one of pride, and can affect each of us. 

 
We should love others, and simply help others along the path.