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There’s One who views us like no other. He sees us from the inside out all the time. God’s Word tells us,
"The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart" (I Samuel 16:7b, NIV).
While the world around us obsesses with external makeovers, God longs to begin His work on the inside. God does His beautifying work from the inside out.
Our key verse tells us He wants to strengthen our inner being with the power of His Spirit and out of His glorious riches. What an adorning that will be! When God is the One at work in us and when we join Him by changing our focus from external perfection to His internal perfecting, our beauty will come from our truest, God-created self.
Trying harder, doing more or behaving better isn’t what we need. Those are the things we do to try to create perfection, shining ourselves up on the outside. Jesus’ clean-up, His perfecting process, isn’t about our work. It’s about taking one step of faith and asking Him to dwell in our hearts.
Only then can Jesus fill us up on the inside with His strength, power, love and light. Only then will our outside radiate with the beauty of what’s within.
Lord, please forgive me for focusing too much on the externals of my life. I invite You to dwell in my heart so You can do a work in me from the inside out. You are beautiful, and I want to be like You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.