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Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. – 2 Corinthians 4:16

Most of us put a lot of stock in outward appearance. While there’s nothing wrong with combing our hair and smelling good, it says a lot about our basic orientation to life. We are most concerned with how other people see us.

Not so with God. When the Lord sent Samuel to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem to anoint one of his sons as king, Samuel was impressed with Eliab, but God said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

Does that mean that a big, good-looking guy cannot be a spiritual leader? No, of course not. It just means that God looks for something deeper than that: a heart that is given to Him.

David, who wasn’t even invited to the event, was finally brought in from the pasture where he was tending the sheep, and the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one.” There was something within David that only the Lord could see.

What does God see when He looks at us? Hearts that are filled with the Word and given to prayer? And what about our opinion of others? Are we so turned off by someone’s outward appearance that we write them off before we discover their inner beauty?

It is one of the great ironies of our day that we spend buckets of money on our bodies, which are, in effect, wasting away. At the same time, we often neglect the inward person, which the apostle Paul says should be renewed day by day

Jesus, the Righteous Husband
Matthew 12:19-20
I looked around my living room, seeing reminders of the relationship my wife and I share. I reflected on jst how much I love this woman, and I reminded myself of my desire to be all she needs in a husband. That’s when this question occurred to me: What kind of husband would Jesus have made?
I flipped through the gospel of Matthew with the image in mind of Jesus as a husband. “He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out” (Matthew 12: 19-20)
It was an image of strong gentleness. I thought of Jesus taking time for the children; patiently instructing his followers, though tired and hungry; touching the rotting skin of outcast lepers; weeping over a city’s waywardness; calling even his betrayer “friend”.
This Man felt the whole spectrum of emotion, yet always maintained self-control. He experienced success without it degenerating to egotism. He faced reversal without turning bitter. He endured temptation, but did not yield to its pressure. You could freeze any moment of his life in time and he would have no reason for regret or embarrassment.
I realized that, in a sense, every moment of my life is a moment frozen. An expression of who I am, in that instant. And I decided to devote myself to piling up moments and memories that will give my wife some small glimpse of Jesus in my life.

Life Builders
*Why is it helpful to have a sense that how you behave each moment is important?
*When have you seen glimpses of Christ’s character in your spouse’s behavior?

As we learned yesterday, in order to find the right mate, we must first find the “One”.  This week’s devotions will be centered on developing yourself spiritually, so that God can lead you to the person you are to marry.

Isaiah 11:1-9The Spirit’s Gentle Ministry

Spiritual discipline has many forms.  In his book, Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster lists twelve disciplines: meditation, prayer, fasting, study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service confession, worship, guidance and celebration.

                The responsibility to exercise these disciplines lies with us, but we should not think of them as our efforts to force ourselves to be better.  Instead, we are submitting ourselves to a process whereby we will be changed.  As we submit to Christ, as we allow him to work in us, we gain new insights into his reality, and the new person we become is shaped by our response to the gentle ministry of his Spirit.

                From the disciplines, new habits develop that strengthen us and bring a hunger for more and more knowledge of God.  We, his children, can be assured that he who delights in us and knows us perfectly is working in us to bring about spiritual vitality and wholeness.

Life Builders

*Which of the twelve spiritual disciplines listed above have you consciously worked to incorporate into your spiritual life?

*Which additional spiritual discipline would you like to have?  How can you begin to incorporate it into your life today?