God Looks Past the Outside

 God Looks Past the Outside

Matthew 23:23-26

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.

Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence!

You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.

Luke 11:39-40

Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness!

Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside?

Micah 6:8

No, O people, the lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

Hosea 6:6

I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. 

I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.

Isaiah 58:6-7

“No, this is the kind of fasting I want: 

Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;  lighten the burden of those who work for you. 

Let the oppressed go free,  and remove the chains that bind people.

Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. 

Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

1 Samuel 16:7

But the lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the lord looks at the heart.”

Titus 1:16

Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.

It's What's Inside That Matters

Have you ever looked at someone's house from the outside and thought, “Wow, they really have it together!”?

The lawn is mowed. The porch is swept. The windows are clean. Everything looks beautiful.

Then you walk inside and discover that the kitchen is piled with dishes, the laundry is everywhere, and there's stuff scattered from one end of the house to the other.

Okay... maybe I'm describing my house sometimes! 😂

But isn't that a picture of us, too?

We can look pretty good on the outside while there is a whole different story going on inside.

We can smile at church while we're angry inside.

We can say, “God bless you,” while secretly judging someone.

We can quote Scripture while refusing to forgive.

We can look like we have tremendous faith while we're lying awake at two o'clock in the morning wondering how we're going to make it through the next week.

And here's the beautiful thing:

God already knows what's inside.

We don't have to pretend with Him.

Jesus had some very strong words for religious leaders who were more concerned about looking right than actually being right with God. He compared them to cups that were clean on the outside but filthy on the inside.

That really makes me stop and think.

Because Jesus wasn't saying that the outside doesn't matter at all.

He's saying the inside matters first.

God Isn't Looking for Perfect People

Sometimes I think we make Christianity harder than Jesus ever intended it to be.

We think we have to have the perfect prayer life.

The perfect attitude.

The perfect home.

The perfect marriage.

The perfect church attendance.

The perfect answers.

The perfect faith.

But God isn't asking us to pretend we're perfect.

He is asking us to let Him work on our hearts.

Ross and I certainly don't have a perfect life.

We've walked through some incredibly difficult seasons together. We've worried about money. We've faced situations where we honestly didn't know how things were going to work out. We've had days when we were tired, frustrated, discouraged, and probably not the best versions of ourselves.

But through all of it, God keeps teaching us something:

We don't have to have everything figured out to keep walking with Him.

Sometimes faith looks like getting up in the morning and saying, “Okay, Lord. I don't know what today is going to bring, but I'm going with You.”

Sometimes faith looks like praying over a stack of bills.

Sometimes it looks like forgiving someone when you don't feel like forgiving them.

Sometimes it looks like helping somebody else even when you don't have much yourself.

Sometimes it looks like admitting, “Lord, I messed up. Please change my heart.”

That's real faith.

Not pretending.

Not performing.

Surrendering.

God Looks at the Heart

One of my favorite reminders in Scripture is found in 1 Samuel 16:7.

People look at the outside.

God looks at the heart.

People can misunderstand us.

They can judge us by our past.

They can look at what we've done, what we've failed at, how we look, how much money we have, what kind of house we live in, what kind of clothes we wear, or what mistakes we've made.

But God sees something people can't see.

He sees the whole story.

He sees the tears nobody knows about.

He sees the battles nobody sees.

He sees the prayers whispered when nobody else is listening.

He sees the heart that is still trying.

And, friend, that gives me hope.

Because I know my heart isn't perfect.

Neither is yours.

But God isn't asking us to clean ourselves up before we come to Him.

He's asking us to come to Him so He can clean us up.

What Does God Really Want From Us?

Micah 6:8 makes it wonderfully simple.

Do what is right.

Love mercy.

Walk humbly with God.

That's something an ordinary person like me can understand.

God doesn't just want us sitting in church singing songs about love.

He wants us to love people.

He doesn't just want us talking about mercy.

He wants us to show mercy.

He doesn't just want us reading about serving others.

He wants us to serve.

Isaiah reminds us that real worship reaches beyond the church doors.

Feed someone who is hungry.

Help someone who is hurting.

Share what you have.

Lift someone up.

Make somebody's day a little easier.

Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is simply show up for somebody.

Don't Just Look Like a Christian—Live Like One

Titus gives us another important warning.

It's possible to say we know God while our lives tell a completely different story.

Ouch.

That one gets me.

Because it's easy to talk about faith.

It's much harder to live it when someone cuts us off in traffic.

It's easy to talk about forgiveness until someone hurts us.

It's easy to say we trust God until the bank account gets low.

It's easy to say, “God will provide,” until we're standing in the grocery store wondering what we can afford.

That's where our faith becomes real.

Not when everything is easy.

When life is hard.

Ross and I have learned that faith isn't always shouting, “Hallelujah!”

Sometimes faith is sitting quietly together and saying,

“Well... we don't know what we're going to do, but we know who we're going to trust.”

And then we take the next step.

Just the next step.

God Wants Our Hearts

So today, let's stop worrying so much about how we look to everybody else.

Let's ask a better question:

“Lord, what is happening inside me?”

Is there bitterness?

Give it to Him.

Is there anger?

Give it to Him.

Is there fear?

Give it to Him.

Is there unforgiveness?

Give it to Him.

Is there pride?

Give it to Him.

Are we exhausted?

Give that to Him, too.

God isn't standing over us with a checklist demanding that we become perfect overnight.

He's inviting us to walk with Him.

One day at a time.

One mistake at a time.

One prayer at a time.

One step at a time.

And as we keep walking with Him, He changes us from the inside out.

That is the kind of change that lasts.

Because when God changes the heart, eventually the outside begins to show it.

Not because we're pretending.

Because we're becoming.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You that You see beyond what everyone else sees.

You know our hearts. You know our struggles, our fears, our failures, and our weaknesses. You know the things we don't tell anyone else.

Lord, please don't let us become so concerned with looking like good Christians that we forget to actually follow You.

Clean our hearts.

Change our attitudes.

Help us forgive.

Help us love when it's difficult.

Help us show mercy when we would rather hold a grudge.

Help us notice people who are hurting and give us the courage to help.

When our lives are difficult and we don't know what tomorrow will bring, remind us that we don't have to know the whole plan.

We only have to trust You enough to take the next step.

Help Ross and me, and every person reading this, to live our faith in the ordinary moments of everyday life.

May what is happening inside our hearts become evident in the way we love, serve, forgive, and care for others.

Thank You for loving us exactly where we are, while loving us too much to leave us there.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom,

And the power,

And the glory,

Forever and ever.

Amen.

BELIEVE. OBEY. BE BLESSED.

AMEN. BOBBA ❤️

Love, Penny 💛