Hypocrite

I have been pondering hypocrites.
I know that the term comes from play actors or mask wearers. Playing a part that is not really them. Pretending to be someone they are not.
Recently I accused Jonah of being a hypocrite. He tells the sailors that he' worships the Lord, the God of heaven who made the sea and the land.' Yet, if that was true, he why is he running for God when he makes that statement?
As I thought about hypocrisy this morning in my time with the Lord, He reminded me of a season of my life when I said I was one kind of person and lived like another- a time that brings shame to me now. How easy hypocrisy is, in reality. It is the symptom of a civil war in the soul.
My father had many sayings. This one fits here:
'Do as I say, not as I do.'
That is the motto of a hypocrite.
Or is it the warning of the honest believer who finds that sometimes, and in some areas, he loses the battle against sin?
So be careful when you judge a person as a hypocrite. Check you own life first.