It Is The Inside That Matters

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean."

~Matthew 23:25-26

We spend so much time thinking about what people see on the outside.  How we appear.  What people think.  Too often we build a facade on the outside that displays a character which doesn't match what's on the inside.

And it's hard work, because it's not real.  It's not authentic.  It doesn't match who we really are.  And we go to this effort because we're embarrassed.  Or we're ashamed.  Or we're hiding weaknesses we don't want people to see.  Or sins we don't want people to know.  And we work hard on this veneer we show other people because we're afraid they're going to see or discover that truth within.

And that's what Jesus is pointed out to the Pharisees.  You can scrub the outside of that cup all you want and it's still going to be dirty on the inside.  But if you clean the inside of that cup, the outside will be clean too, because what's showing on the outside and what is really on the inside will be the exact same thing.

Working on what's inside is hard work, and it takes a great deal of effort.  Just as much effort as it takes to keep up that appearance.  But it's important that we continue to work on our Christian character, because what's inside is what God sees.  And He clearly sees our hypocrisy in pretending to be something that we clearly aren't.  

We're certainly not fooling God, and if we're being honest, we're not really fooling anyone else either.  If you're going to go the effort of working on what people see in you, go to work on the inside.  Let what people see on the outside truly reflect who you are on the inside.  

~Pastor Todd Creason