It’s Not What It Looks Like

If you get grossed out easily, you might not want to read this but I’m going to be totally honest. This past week I got a cold sore. I’m not talking about any old average, run-of-the-mill, tiny little bump on the lip; I’m talking about a huge, made me look like I was doing a permanent duck-face and had to go to urgent care type of growth. It was awful and absolutely painful. So what’s the point? Why am I putting this online for the world to see? My answer is because of 1 Samuel 16:7:

 “…For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

This verse is during the time when the prophet, Samuel, was called by God to find Israel’s new king (who in this case was David.) Samuel saw all of David’s brothers and thought, “Surely, this one must be him!” But little did Samuel realize that just because these men were big and strong and handsome, that didn’t necessarily mean that their heart was right with God.

So when my facial dilemma came (did I mention that I felt like I looked like the hunchback of Notre Dame?), this was the first verse that came to mind and I wondered if maybe God was trying to tell me something. We see all of these people (it could be friends, family, celebrities, or even ourselves) with beautiful hair; nice clothes; the perfect smile; the list goes on and on, but that doesn’t mean that the most important thing of all, which is the heart, is right with God.

Or maybe even we see someone who is imperfect or has some sort of flaw and without realizing it we automatically judge them and think of all the reasons why they must be a “bad person” simply because they don’t line up with our definition of cleanliness or beauty.

My word of encouragement for you is to always be examining yourself inwardly, making sure that your heart is aligned with Jesus because someone can be as beautiful or handsome as possible but still have an ugly heart, or they may not exactly be “perfect” but inwardly they continually strive every day to be more like Christ.

Love,  
Kelsey Pugh