Many think a hypocrite is someone who fails his own moral standard. This cannot be the right definition because it would make everyone a hypocrite. We all have a moral standard we think we should live up to and fail that moral standard in one way or another.

To be a hypocrite is to be an actor. It’s a pretender. A hypocrite is one who professes to believe in a moral standard that they don’t actually believe in, or someone who has no intention of trying to live up to the moral standard they really do believe in.

Someone who sincerely believes X is wrong, and sincerely attempts to live by X but, nevertheless, fails to always do so is not a hypocrite. For example, a person might profess that it is wrong to lie, and thus does his best to avoid lying; nevertheless, in a time of trouble, he tells a lie to get out of trouble. After doing so, he repents to God and goes on trying to live a life of honesty. This man is guilty of a moral failure, but not of moral hypocrisy. The moral hypocrite is the one who says he believes in truth-telling but really doesn’t, or believes in truth-telling but consistently lies nonetheless.