15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

"What you do and who you are speak so loudly, I can't hear what you say."

Hypocrisy is a very real thing - but please, don't pretend it's only in the church. It's anywhere that people are! It's in government and in businesses and in homes and in hospitals and in government, too. Yes, I did say government twice, but that's because so many politicians have made an art form out of it. In my thinking, hypocrisy is about pretending to be someone who we are not.

There's an old proverb that says “The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood, he was one of them.” And I'm thinking of the song by the Who, "Won't Get Fooled Again!" Yes, we will.

But for us who are believers, Paul here says, "Timothy, make sure that how you live measures up to what you believe and teach."

Many people live lives of dissonance, which is sort of like finger nails on a chalkboard. They are so busy pretending to be somebody that they forget to be themselves, and that is exhausting.