Wolves in sheep's clothing
When I read this analogy in the past, I pictured an Aesop's fable drawing of a wolf that is obviously a wolf, just covered with a sheep skin to try to get close to sheep, to trick them and thereby get a meal. But I am learning from Jesus' warning and from my experience that wolves in sheep's clothing are actually very cunning - good at looking and seeming just like sheep; skilled at being very deceptive, with hidden, selfish motives. They look like harmless, vulnerable sheep, but are actually predators, hungry to destroy.
Jesus Himself made that analogy. And sadly, I have experienced it. Recently, I have been experiencing it a lot.
In Matthew chapter 7 verse 15 Jesus says "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
In Ezekiel 34, there is a parallel reference. Verse 10 says, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.
Too many times recently, those I thought were companion-sheep have been cruel; those whom I trusted to shepherd seemed to devour me and others close to me rather than feed and shepherd us.
About a month ago, I saw and greeted a church elder, then walked away trembling because of his cruel coldness toward me at a Costco. I had been shunned by that dear brother when I had tried to help clear up a misunderstanding that was hurting my daughter. I and other sheep were wounded by that situation instead of feeling fed, shepherded and cared for. He said "hi" as he passed me at Costco, with not even a slight smile. So, so cruelly cold. [Thankfully, right after passing that "elder" I ran into other church members - a couple and their daughter and, shaking, I fellowshipped with them. That brother, there with his wife and daughter, poured oil and wine into my wounds. Thank the Lord for some who are truly sheep and truly shepherds.]
Early in my current family crisis, I poured out my heart to an elder, who is also a family member (an in-law). He listened, acted so kind, and seemed to deeply sympathize with me and comfort me. Later, I became hurt and confused because though we seemed to understand each other, he never advocated for my marriage or intervened for healing and oneness, as I thought he would. In spite of that elder/family member telling me to keep our phone calls a secret from my husband, eventually I broke and told my husband about the seemingly "shepherding" conversations; this family member then explained to my husband that he had just been "trying to befriend me."His involvement has been extremely wounding, back-stabbing, and destructive to me and my marriage. This was not the first time I had trustingly opened to in-laws, also considered church elders, who seemed to care but who used the vulnerable opening to hurt me and my family.
A shepherd takes tender care of the flock, even of each sheep and lamb. The Lord made the point in Luke 15 that He goes after even one lost sheep. He is not satisfied with a majority being kept safe; He cares of each of us. He is still shepherding us, and His charge to us in John 21 is that, if we love Him, we would shepherd and feed His lambs and His sheep.
I have seen much falsehood. People who seem to express being a lamb or a sheep, seeming to be as Jesus - who came to us as the Lamb of God, and who is eternally the Lamb on the throne. Yet those who are "clothed" like sheep, but who are inwardly wolves, hurt the sheep instead of taking care of them. They have hidden, ulterior motives, seeking base gain in relationships, two-faced....
Are we outwardly the same as we are inwardly?
I am also finding much reality - people who genuinely express God's amazing attributes in beautiful human virtues. I have been cared for by people with whom I can relate, on a basic human level, and on a spiritual level - just as sinners and saved ones can relate to the Lamb of God. Thankfully there are ones who truly care for fellow sheep, ones who truly sympathize and relate to those for whom they care, not to "try to befriend" yet then betray others... people who are true friends, through and through.
I couldn't make it without such genuine ones in my life. I thank God for you.
Be genuine. Don't be false. Be true. Be the same inwardly as you are outwardly.
May none of us be ravening wolves in sheep's clothing.
Please note: I am not saying that any brother is a false prophet. I am writing this based on my experience that for these past few years, instead of having the effect expected of fellow sheep and shepherds, some (sadly, IÂ would say most) of the members of my church community, even who are deemed as leading ones and elders, have been quite hurtful and disunifying in their handling of me and my family members at a time when we have needed shepherding more than ever.

Let love be without hypocrisy.
Tonight I saw an email written by an in-law to me that said, "The prayers I prayed for you and [my husband], as a couple, with [2 other in-laws] -almost daily for weeks, brought me into a deep fellowship with the Lord I didn't know was possible - because we fought tooth and nail with the evil one."
This was sent to me December 18, 2019. That person signed off with "Love," but came to my home exactly one week later, and I was told to leave when (because) that person arrived. When I didn't agree to leave, my husband left me for weeks, until I and my son finally gave up hope, gave in to the demands, and left our house, and my husband with his parents returned to our home. I have never stayed with my husband again. And that in-law has never contacted me again. It is going on two years.
Romans 12:9 says that love should be without hypocrisy. From a quick online dictionary search, hypocrisy means "the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense."
Love rejoices with the truth.
If someone can write "love" to me, and then be okay with me going from lying next to my suffering husband, until that person arrived, to never being with him again due to that person's involvement, that is NOT love. Love would assure a wife, especially when she directly asks for assurance, that her marriage is honored. Love would not want a husband and wife to be put asunder after months of repairing a deep rupture of their relationship. Love would take account of what is honorable.
I John 3:18 tells us not to love in words or speech but in action and truth. I couldn't bear to leave my husband, but I eventually had to leave. I only welcomed my in-laws to be with us in our home. I never turned them away, but I did ask to please include me in the care of my own husband. I was not included. Instead, I was abandoned, along with our inwardly highly-sensitive son, who is still suffering much due to our nuclear family's dismantling.
Romans 12:9 continues with "Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good." It is okay to feel abhorrence about evil. I believe the dismantling of my marriage, through the meddling and violating of our marriage's boundaries, was evil. The actions of some who I believed loved me, until that love was proven hypocritical and pretentious, have been abhorrent.
I am speaking to all of us - myself included:
Let's not love in words only.
Let's not love with hypocrisy.
Let's not love in pretense.
Let's love in truth.
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