I think that there are few things that our Lord found more contemptable than hypocrisy. He repeatedly called out the leaders among the people and admonished their conduct because He found precisely this to be so prevalent among them. They preached one message of how to live in accord with God’s law to the people and then did not follow the precepts of the law themselves.
The thing is, it’s no different today, it is incredibly easy for any of us to become a bit too full of ourselves at times and to forget that we are accountable to someone who is far greater than any of us. No matter who we are, it is imperative that we remember that we are here to serve one another, in particular by our example of how we live and conduct ourselves according to Gods teaching. We can never expect others to truly believe us to be people of faith and followers of Christ when we don’t live out His message. Words without proper action, prayers without sincerity, and evangelizing without living out the example, are sure not only to fail, but also to damage others by further burdening them with negative examples of what a Christian life is supposed to be. This simply pushes them further away from the salvific message.
Our Lord did not come to be served, but to serve others, even to where He gave up his own life. If we are to truly follow Him, then death is part of that path. We are called to die to self, and to live for Him and for His children who are all around us. This is not a grim prospect at all, it is the most freeing and meaningful existence conceivable. To no longer live so that we are obsessed with ourselves, but rather place our focus on others out of love is the most freeing experience we can have in this life. When we live so as to give of ourselves, we will know that with each action we inch closer to true intimacy with our Creator, and will find the peace and fulfillment that has perhaps been eluding us thus far.
The Deacons Bench 