The Beauty of the Heart

"But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16: 7

Our culture is obsessed with the outward appearance. The amount of money, time and effort that people spend to have just the right hairstyle, a lean trim muscular figure, perfect white straight teeth, just the right trendy clothing and accessories, young age defying skin tone, etc etc - is mind boggling. Our culture deceives us by telling us that physical beauty is the epitome of being human. We are bombarded with images of beautiful "perfect" looking people on magazine covers, TV and movie screens, and other various advertisements. Beauty is in, and oh, how we painfully try to measure up to these unlikely standards.

And why do we care so much about our outward appearance? I mean, who decided that the things we call beautiful are the standards to shoot for? Who decided that outward appearance would be the means by which we judge each other, or are judged?

Though I have no proof to back it up - I suspect that "beautiful" people have an easier go of it in our world. I would guess that they are given more breaks, and the benefit of the doubt more often than not. All because...it is human nature to judge people on the basis of outward appearance. Regrettably, this is true in our time, just as it was true in Samuel's time, thousands of years ago.

This can be oppressive and disconcerting news for those of us who are not (shall we say) magazine cover material.

Thankfully, God does not operate in the same way as the rest of the world. He does not judge on the outward appearance - what we look like, how old we are, what gender we are, what kind of car we drive.

God looks at the heart.

This means for us, that in order for God to use us, in order for us to be of value in what God is doing for eternity - it is the quality and sincerity of our heart that matters most. And a beautiful heart is one that looks holy and loving like God's own.

The context of the Scripture above is God's selection of David as the next King of Judah. David was the least likely to be chosen of Jesse's sons - he was the youngest (the runt of the litter). In fact, by outward appearances, no one person would have picked David for such an important position as King of God's people (in fact Jesse didn't even invite David to meet with the prophet - he was out in the fields with the sheep). Yet God saw David's heart - he was "one after God's own heart." This is what qualified David to be used and chosen by God.

I wonder what our churches would look like if we spent as much time, effort, and money in tending to the quality of our heart, as we presently do with our outward beauty. I suspect our world would, in turn, become a much more beautiful place to live.

The beauty of the heart is the important and eternal thing - everything else pales in comparison.

Be God's, Scott