Monday Morning Manna: Beautiful Inside and Out
Some have attempted to describe the outward appearance of a member of the opposite sex only to find themselves in trouble. I wonder if that can be done without trouble. We shall see. How often do you hear someone described as beautiful on the inside and the outside? Probably not every often. The advertising world knows that we don’t often look at the inside, thus products are sold with the macho man, the shapely woman, or the young, attractive, perfect-looking family. When a teen-age boy sticks his elbow into the side of another, it is most-likely the universal, and ancient indication of the outward beauty of a nearby teen-age girl. And when teen-age girls giggle, it might be because of an attractive boy passing by. But early-on we were encouraged to look past the outward. “Beauty is only skin deep” they told us, to which we responded, “Yes, but ugly cuts all the way to the bone.” Hard to convince, we were also told never to judge a book by its cover, not referring to our reading choices. And there was the age-old description of one who was lacking in outer appearance – “But they have a great personality.” Can we overcome this preference to the outward appearance, or is it normal? We were created to have preferences in every area of life, from food choices, to vehicle selections, to wearing apparel. Perhaps the answer is in our ever-challenging goal of being more spiritual. After all, as God instructed Samuel, “The Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7) and as Paul asked the believers in Corinth before teaching them otherwise, “Do you look at things according to the outward appearance” (2 Corinthians 10:7)? Unfortunately, in answer to Paul’s question, we do, but we’d rather not. Lord, help us all!
Dr. Dan Crawford, Senior Professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, is the WestCoast Baptist Association’s Spiritual Life & Leadership Mentor. Follow Dan on Twitter @DrDanRC and Facebook www.facebook.com/dan.crawford.