On the Inside

1 Samuel 16:7b “for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

 

I was brought up in a literalistic and fundamentalist expression of Christianity. I remember hearing that what you wear reflects who you are. Although, it might indicate things about you (what ever that means), it still fails to say everything there is about you. There was a huge focus on what you looked like, a lengthy list of things not to do, and sometimes a certain group of people you were to fellowship with almost exclusively.

As I progressed and sought my maturity, I focused on my behavior. But while still in the fundamentalist spectrum of faith, it was all about not practicing sin. To be honest, that sort of thing doesn’t leave much room for focusing on what you can do right, what God desires above all else: to love, do what is righteous, and walk in humbly with God.

Often people desire to seek out what they can see, according to their standards. We judge what is known to us, but we do not know what truly lies beneath those around us. Thank God for that! The Scriptures teach that God examines the hearts of humankind. Perhaps because from the heart, speaks the mouth and so does one act. Think of your heart as the seat of your emotions, your soul. What you think, believe, do, and why you do it, is what needs to be touched by the inspiration of Holy Spirit. God doesn’t work from the outside in, but from the inside out. When it is God that has indeed seen and touched you on the inside, you will never be the same. All this is possible because God didn’t see your symptom or condition, God saw your worth and what you’d soon be in God’s hands.

Prayer: Creator, let me see what you see, and how you see it. Amen.