The Heart
A story is told which is very gripping in its human interest. A young officer, blinded during the war, was rehabilitated in an Army hospital. During this time he met and later married one of the nurses who took care of him. He had a tremendous devotion to her and loved her dearly. One day his keen sense of hearing overheard someone in the distance speaking about himself and his wife. "It was lucky for her that he was blind, since he never would have married so homely a woman if he had had eyes." He rose to his feet and walked toward the voices, saying, "I overheard what you said, and I thank God from the depths of my heart for blindness of eyes which might have kept me from seeing the marvelous worth of the soul of this woman who is my wife. She is the most noble character I have ever known, and if the conformation of her features is such that it might have masked her inward beauty to my soul then I am the great gainer by having lost my sight."
The Bible says that God seeth not as man seeth, "for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7). The Bible also says that God prefers holiness to glamour (1 Peter 3:4). If someone possesses physical beauty he may be thankful for it, but he should realize what a temptation it can be, and he must ever surrender it to the Lord. If in any way there is an attempt to trade upon it, God must blast the spiritual life as a result.
A true understanding of these principles will not cause any Christian to despise any gift God has given him. We must not go to asceticism in denying the inward value of any outward grace. A Christian should always dress well; be neat and clean as becometh an ambassador for the Lord Jesus Christ. We must always seek to develop a yieldedness to His presence and power so that our inward character, renewed day by day, may show forth the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Himself has put within us that which alone can please Him, and of this we may be glad.
1. When the scriptures tell us then to present ourselves as holy and blameless what do you think the intention of the author is?
2. Since the Lord looks at the heart, does that mean that he does not care about our outward appearance?
3. What are some scriptures that talk about a Christian’s outward appearance?
