Beauty that Comes from Within

“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.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.

- Matthew 23:25-27

Prayer: Lord, remove my mask. Change my heart. Make me right from the inside out.

We live in the perfectly filtered unreal world of the social media era.

In our generation, there are thousands of men and women currently starring into their phone screens, unconsciously comparing their lives to the ones they see. Jealous, envy, competition and coveting brew silently in the hearts, rarely given the courage to have a voice, but causing the birth of discontentment, dissatisfaction, and general displeasure with our portion.

If you’ve never experienced this, then I will speak for myself. I recall scrolling one day through social media and after looking at a few pages, feeling my joy shrink.

Honestly, these people’s lives looked amazing.

Outfits were perfectly paired with designer hand bags and shoes to match.

They were just posting an update from their now 4th international travel of the year.

Oh look! Another one just got engaged.

Sister so and so is flourishing in ministry and God is really using her to impact lives all over the globe.

I “felt” like lives are moving on, people are progressing, and I was at a total standstill.

In the midst of heading down the path of throwing myself the most epic pity party, the Holy Spirit caught me with this scripture in Matthew 23:25-27. It was a reminder that peoples exterior presentation was still a fraction of their life whole life.

My view and understanding was only partial.

Yet, there was a period when I felt like everyone was moving on to a second level and here I was being broken to the foundation (which I was).

I was learning how to stand on God alone.

It was building my faith and trust so much because I was becoming more appreciative of what I had and truly blessed by every big and small addition.

Dependency on Our God causes a process of dying to ourselves, our ways, and wills. It's a sacrifice of surrendering to become a servant.

The world is so deceptive because encouraging people to focus on presenting perfection on the outside – covering it in make-up, marketing, clever slogans, and witty sayings - however, it is the interior that God is concerned about.

We forget about the beauty of character building; developing those things that the world can never take from us. When the inside is clean there is no being swayed by the trends, by the fashions and opinions of fickle humans. When you're life is God's, you are learning to become rooted and grounded on a solid foundation.

God is teaching you some tools right now and you must be patient while school is in session.

We don't know what lies ahead of us in the journey of life, but we serve a God who does. And, if we allow Him to work on us and within us, we become game changers, generational curse breakers, and earth shakers for the Kingdom.

If you're currently single, allow yourself to be single.

There’s something about not having another person during this season where you are able to have an honest inventory of who you are. Not being able to vent to another person even and learning to bring these thoughts, feelings and attitudes before God can make it clearer to hear yourself and catch your own meditations. Otherwise, instead of God molding and shaping your thinking and renewing your mind with His word, you begin to be rewired and reshaped by someone else’s thinking. And, that is not wisdom.

You're invitation to allow God develop you as an individual, and restore you're identity in Him, is for the benefit of not just you - it goes into your future marriage, spills over unto your legacy, and will effect all of those you are connected to inspired.

In 2nd Samuel, you can see how King David really trust God.

He learned and practice to consult God on everything and God showed Himself strong in David’s life. He gave David more than he could have ever planned for himself. David was obedient, he was patient and he was humble. He wasn't faultless, or without mistakes, but his heart was pure and after God.

Be patient with yourself, with the process and with God because when things are rushed, crucial steps are missed and mistakes are made. It never pays to take a shortcut. It never benefits to wear a mask. Even as the sayings goes, “good things come to those who wait” and “good things take time”.

If necessary, decide to go on a fast from social media and from anything else that is trigger low self-esteem or insecurity. Invite the Holy Spirit to begin to transform you from the inside out and restore you're confidence, because you are beautifully, wonderfully, and perfect the way you are!

Confess and determine that you will not be a whitewashed tomb or pristine only on the outside, but completely rotten and dysfunctional on the inside. Decide that you will surrender to the process and go through it with God so that you can have a pure heart and a renewed and steadfast Spirit.

In case you needed the reminder: "Inner beauty is still where the real beauty lies!" #Periodt

Until next time,