The Lord looks at the heart

I Samuel 16:7 (NIV)

The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.  

You likely have heard the phrase that the Lord sees what is on the inside of man, but didn’t know where this phrase came from.  Well, here it is.  We humans can only look at outward appearances.  If we could see what’s on the inside of man, Hollywood and Madison Avenue would not be where they are today.  We admire the person who is handsome, beautiful, tall, well-built, nice teeth, nice smile, good posture, speaks well, and whatever we can see on the outside.  We cannot see and often do not care if the person is kind, thoughtful, considerate, sincere, and selfless other than those closest to us.  Indeed, outside of family and a few close friends and neighbors, we have no idea what exists on the inside of a person.  One of Aesop’s quotes:  “Appearances are often deceiving.”  Jean de La Fontaine went further—“Beware so long as you live of judging men by their outward appearance.”  

One definition of maturity is the ability to appreciate the hidden qualities of people rather than the external features.  The younger the person the more important the external features.  As people age, the more important they see the internal qualities.  People that marry young often marry the best looking man or woman possible.  People that marry later in life, especially second (or beyond) marriages, look much more at the inner person, his or her character, rather than putting so much emphasis on outer appearance. 

In the business world, many companies evaluate their personnel with a criterion called “presence”.  One definition of presence is the reaction a person gets when he/she enters a room.  Such a person “stands out”.  Why?  Primarily because of his/her outer appearance.  Now, there are many other qualities of presence (candor, openness, passion, poise, self-confidence, sincerity, thoughtfulness, even warmth), but the main way that people define and detect presence is how a person appears on the outside.  Indeed, one definition of presence is how you project your eyes, face, body, voice, and conversation that emphasize the outer man rather than the inner man.   An inner man with qualities like humility, gentleness, selflessness, kindness and the like will not likely be described as having presence.  Confucius wrote: “I have yet to meet a man as fond of high moral conduct as he is of outward appearances”

We humans have little ability to judge what is inside a person’s heart.  It takes a long time to figure someone out and perhaps married couples married for decades might freely admit that they do not know all that is inside their spouse’s heart.  While you are not God and can never fully be like Him on this side of heaven, you can capture much of His character by allowing His Holy Spirit to control your life in all respects, how you act, speak and think.  A spirit-controlled person will not judge another person based on outward appearance.  How is your spirit-controlled character developing?  One main indication of spiritual growth is your hunger for the word of God.  Your reading this study vignette is a very positive sign of your spiritual growth.  Be encouraged by this.