“Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15:56‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

For as long as there is sin there will be death. 

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3:23‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://www.bible.com/72/rom.3.23.hcsb

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭6:23‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://www.bible.com/72/rom.6.23.hcsb

Because everyone on the planet earth has sinned, death is waiting for them. And by the Law of God, we know what is sin. 

“What should we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin if it were not for the law. For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet. And sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. The commandment that was meant for life resulted in death for me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭7:7-12‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://www.bible.com/72/rom.7.7-12.hcsb

But like Paul’s flesh, our own flesh seizes on an opportunity for sin. Once our flesh knows it is wrong to do something it tends to lean toward that thing. We are all like in this department. Even us Christ followers have to fight against the flesh. When the world sees us slip and let the flesh win they may call us a hypocrite because we are not in the moment living for Christ but our flesh. But then there is a teachable moment for then. We are not a hypocrite but rather we still live in the same fleshly desires that they live in But God gives us forgiveness when we repent and He promises to give us an exit ramp, but for the moment we missed the exit.

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭10:13‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://www.bible.com/72/1co.10.13.hcsb

So it may look like we are a hypocrite but we are people trying to live in the Spirit of God fighting against the desires of the flesh. You see that as a Christian our first priority is Love God. We do that through obedience to Him, worship of Him, and submission to His will. For if we do not do those things we will obey someone else, worship someone else, and we will submit to someone else. And those choices will lead us away from God and toward the Devil.

“He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭22:37‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://www.bible.com/72/mat.22.37.hcsb

“The one who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. And the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I also will love him and will reveal Myself to him.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14:21‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://www.bible.com/72/jhn.14.21.hcsb

“For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55:9‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://www.bible.com/72/isa.55.9.hcsb

“The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.”

‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭3:9‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://www.bible.com/72/2pe.3.9.hcsb

And our second priority is to love people. We don’t do this by being fake around them we do this by being real with them. When we love god around them they will see that we are in fact not hypocrites but people who fight against the flesh and sometimes we let the flesh win. There is no better way to love people but to live a Godly life in front of them and to tell them of the love of Jesus. 

“just as I also try to please all people in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, so that they may be saved.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭10:33‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://www.bible.com/72/1co.10.33.hcsb

The way Paul was pleasing people is not to give in to their desires to pull us away from God, but to be relevant to them while maintaining our Holy relationship to God. Paul would not eat meat if his company was not eating meat. If he was around the jews He would be like a Jew, but when he was around the rest of the world he would be like the rest of the world while being a slave of Christ.

“For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭1:10‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://www.bible.com/72/gal.1.10.hcsb

I don’t want to sound like Paul is wish-washy. Because he was not but he was relevant to his crowd. He did not expect his crowd to listen to a Jewish message if they were Gentiles. And He did not expect a Jewish crowd to listen to a gentile message, but a Jewish message to the Jews and a gentile message to the gentiles. 

If you notice I tend to write to the Christians to encourage them to continue following Jesus. And every so often I will speak to the non-Christian or the pre-Christian because who knows God may lead them to this message and they find Jesus as their Lord and Savior. 

Is the sting of sin more present in our lives where people don’t see Jesus but sees us following the crowd. Stop and turn around and start following the road God has for you and not the highway that the world is traveling on.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:13-14‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

https://www.bible.com/72/mat.7.13-14.hcsb