The Inside Matters
Scripture: Matthew 23:2-3, 27-28
2 “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. 3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach...For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. 28 Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness."
Observation:
Jesus saved his harshest criticism not for rebellious sinners, prostitutes, drug dealers, homosexuals, or even the godless Roman officials; rather He addressed with the strictest scrutiny the religious leaders (i.e. pastors, evangelists, teachers, etc.) who had been entrusted with representing God to the people and leading them into a relationship with God. It would have been one thing if they didn't know any better but the very fact that they should have known better made them more guilty than any other group. They professed to understand God's truth and sought diligently to explain it to others in zealous devotion to God; however, in all of their outward "doing" for God their inward "being" who they were supposed to be suffered to the extent that their lack of integrity far outweighed any "good" they were trying to do in the name of God. Jesus saw right through their religious pretense beyond what their lives looked like on the surface and He uncovered what was truly in their hearts.
Application:
To God who we are on the inside always matters more than anything we will ever do in His name. God is never impressed with how good we look in front of other people. In fact He could really care less about our reputation outside of how we are representing Him to the world around us. It means very little to say you're a Christian or to assent to biblical teachings if we aren't striving to live by them. Even among true believers it's easy to get caught up in "doing" all the right outward things (going to church, reading the Bible, tithing, praying, worshiping, etc.)and quickly find yourself just going through the motions. Our relationship with God was never to be defined by doing spiritual things but rather becoming more like Christ and allowing Him to transform us into the person He created us to be. What we say or even do matters very little in God's eyes apart from the inward purity of heart that reflects Christ to others.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, shift our focus today to heart of what it means to truly know you. Search our hearts and examine our inner motives and thoughts. Purify us from the inside out and make us who you called us and created us to be. Connect us with You today and live in us and through us. Cause our lives to reflect the integrity of your truth today and help us reflect who you are in everything we say and do and in who we are for you. In Jesus name. Amen.
2 “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. 3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach...For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. 28 Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness."
Observation:
Jesus saved his harshest criticism not for rebellious sinners, prostitutes, drug dealers, homosexuals, or even the godless Roman officials; rather He addressed with the strictest scrutiny the religious leaders (i.e. pastors, evangelists, teachers, etc.) who had been entrusted with representing God to the people and leading them into a relationship with God. It would have been one thing if they didn't know any better but the very fact that they should have known better made them more guilty than any other group. They professed to understand God's truth and sought diligently to explain it to others in zealous devotion to God; however, in all of their outward "doing" for God their inward "being" who they were supposed to be suffered to the extent that their lack of integrity far outweighed any "good" they were trying to do in the name of God. Jesus saw right through their religious pretense beyond what their lives looked like on the surface and He uncovered what was truly in their hearts.
Application:
To God who we are on the inside always matters more than anything we will ever do in His name. God is never impressed with how good we look in front of other people. In fact He could really care less about our reputation outside of how we are representing Him to the world around us. It means very little to say you're a Christian or to assent to biblical teachings if we aren't striving to live by them. Even among true believers it's easy to get caught up in "doing" all the right outward things (going to church, reading the Bible, tithing, praying, worshiping, etc.)and quickly find yourself just going through the motions. Our relationship with God was never to be defined by doing spiritual things but rather becoming more like Christ and allowing Him to transform us into the person He created us to be. What we say or even do matters very little in God's eyes apart from the inward purity of heart that reflects Christ to others.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, shift our focus today to heart of what it means to truly know you. Search our hearts and examine our inner motives and thoughts. Purify us from the inside out and make us who you called us and created us to be. Connect us with You today and live in us and through us. Cause our lives to reflect the integrity of your truth today and help us reflect who you are in everything we say and do and in who we are for you. In Jesus name. Amen.
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