The message of the Bible is extremely simple but we have a way of making simple things difficult. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees made serving God harder than it needed to be.

While Jesus dealt compassionately with people - he was kind to prostitutes and tax collectors - but He dealt harshly with the Pharisees. He called them hypocrites because, while they held religiously to their ritual traditions, the love of God was absent from their hearts.

Let us live our lives in a way that honors God and deals kindly with people, because that is the heart of the gospel.