Inner Beauty

Two weeks ago, our newest member of the family was born. Eleanor Hope. It's not surprising that every new parent looks at their child and thinks that it is the most beautiful thing they have ever seen. And of course, Eleanor is the most beautiful baby I've ever seen (equal too, of course, my other two girls). And why do I think this? For two reasons: She is the most beautiful baby I've ever seen, and she's mine!
I passed a billboard the other day advertising for cosmetic surgery. Of course there was a airbrushed picture of a model and the caption said, "Make your inner beauty jealous." I live in a culture where outward appearance is top priority. My city is the highest per capita usage of elective cosmetic surgery. Breast augmentation billboards are everywhere. Why, because outer beauty is such a high value in our society.
I want my daughters growing up knowing what it means to be beautiful, both on the outside and more importantly on the inside. Outer beauty fades, no matter how many cosmetic surgeries you have. But inner beauty has the opportunity to develop over time. And if our hearts belong to Christ first and foremost, our inner beauty will increase as the lines on our face grow longer. If our heart belongs to

"Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7) God was talking about David, the shepherd boy who would become king. He was not tall, he was the youngest of his family, he was discounted by everyone around him, including his family. Nobody believed in him. It would appear from the physical descriptions of him in the Bible, that he wasn't the most attractive person either. But when God chose David to be king he said, "the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart." (1 Samuel 13:14).

If we want to be attractive for the short haul, then we can buy all kinds of products and surgeries to make us look better. But if we want to be attractive in the long haul, then the best inner beauty we can possess is to be a man or women after God's own heart. Isaiah describes Jesus as one who "had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." (Isaiah 53:2) Yet the world is attracted to the real Jesus, not because of how he looks, but because of who he is. And if he is in you, then people will be attracted to you, not because of your physical beauty, but because they will see Christ in you.

Enjoy this video which our church produced, in which I make my hollywood debut.