The new ABC show...."True Beauty"
I need to write about this today...its a bit like putting a bandage on a very fresh wound to stop the bleeding.
Emery and I have been watching the new television show called True Beauty. It was on last night and it struck a deep and personal cord for me. It's not a history making show but there is something very profound about being judged for whats on the inside, where our hearts are. What others see in our actions. There is food for thought in each show. The web site for this show says..."The gorgeous contestants assume they're being judged solely on their outer appearance. They're only half right; outer beauty is one component the judges are looking for, but contestants are also being evaluated -- unbeknownst to them -- for their INNER beauty as well when they're put through scenarios and situations that require them to make moral decisions." I guess for me, it reminds me a bit of those folks that although not concerned so much with their physical beauty, but view their clothing as mirrors into their hearts. They don't always match ! I have known some women that wear dresses to their ankles, cover their heads yet say things like, " I can't stand this or that person". Or " I hate the way they do this or that". What a strange thing for a follower of Christ to ever say ! You might even meet a woman or two that wears a headcovering as a sign of submission but who continually hen peck their husbands, telling them every move to make, leaving a shaking shell of a man in their wake. Its difficult to see such an ill match of inside and outside. I am not expecting perfection in anyone. and I am not trying to be judgemental here, but frankly, its not judging, its seeing it as it is, for what it is. Its calling a spade a spade. Its seeing the obvious. Its the "fruit of the spirit".
I have known folks that dress like homeless folks that have the hearts of saints, whose deeds far surpass the outside and that is like so profoundly beautiful ! The man that gives the shirt off his back or the poor person who gives gifts that mirror the story of the widows mite Mark 12:42 Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. 43 So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”
Both hypocrisy and beauty that is "only skin deep" are offensive to most folks and I am sure to God.
At the pearly gates, I suspect we might all be a bit surprised at who gets into heaven. God could care less about whats on the outside compared to what is on the inside. And more than our dress, our deeds are what tells the nature of a persons heart. .
The commands we are given to govern our lives by are these...Matthew 22:36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
I guess the more you love yourself, the more you should love others !
What a wonderful world we would have if our hearts were full of love for others and not filled with resentment, jealousy, greed and unkind words.
Emery and I have been watching the new television show called True Beauty. It was on last night and it struck a deep and personal cord for me. It's not a history making show but there is something very profound about being judged for whats on the inside, where our hearts are. What others see in our actions. There is food for thought in each show. The web site for this show says..."The gorgeous contestants assume they're being judged solely on their outer appearance. They're only half right; outer beauty is one component the judges are looking for, but contestants are also being evaluated -- unbeknownst to them -- for their INNER beauty as well when they're put through scenarios and situations that require them to make moral decisions." I guess for me, it reminds me a bit of those folks that although not concerned so much with their physical beauty, but view their clothing as mirrors into their hearts. They don't always match ! I have known some women that wear dresses to their ankles, cover their heads yet say things like, " I can't stand this or that person". Or " I hate the way they do this or that". What a strange thing for a follower of Christ to ever say ! You might even meet a woman or two that wears a headcovering as a sign of submission but who continually hen peck their husbands, telling them every move to make, leaving a shaking shell of a man in their wake. Its difficult to see such an ill match of inside and outside. I am not expecting perfection in anyone. and I am not trying to be judgemental here, but frankly, its not judging, its seeing it as it is, for what it is. Its calling a spade a spade. Its seeing the obvious. Its the "fruit of the spirit".
I have known folks that dress like homeless folks that have the hearts of saints, whose deeds far surpass the outside and that is like so profoundly beautiful ! The man that gives the shirt off his back or the poor person who gives gifts that mirror the story of the widows mite Mark 12:42 Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. 43 So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”
Both hypocrisy and beauty that is "only skin deep" are offensive to most folks and I am sure to God.
At the pearly gates, I suspect we might all be a bit surprised at who gets into heaven. God could care less about whats on the outside compared to what is on the inside. And more than our dress, our deeds are what tells the nature of a persons heart. .
The commands we are given to govern our lives by are these...Matthew 22:36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
I guess the more you love yourself, the more you should love others !
What a wonderful world we would have if our hearts were full of love for others and not filled with resentment, jealousy, greed and unkind words.
Comments
None of us is perfect and if we judge others then we shall be judged by God using the same measure, that is what God's word tells us.
This post has made me stop and think and for that I thank you. We all need to look at our own selves and never reproach another for something unless we are above reproach in that area ourself.
It is very dangerous for us to sit in the place of judge for then we put ourself in God's place.
There is only one way to heaven and that is through Christ. May we always seek to keep our eyes on Him.
God bless.