"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the
cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the
outside also may be clean.
(Matthew 23:25-26)
And it's nothing new....Him speaking to me about the inside and the outside and how, really, they should match.
And how in all reality...they don't.
So I drop the dish rag in the suds and right there in the middle of rinsing down stuck-on cereal....
I repent.
Because when the heart doesn't match the mouth - when our exteriors are shiny clean while our hearts are filth-ridden....when our lips are speaking sweet flattery while our motives are for self-gain..... that's just false living. That is deceit. That is hypocrisy. And it's so unlike Christ.
David Guzik put it this way in his study guide for Matthew 23:
"Many are satisfied with a superficial cleansing, and the appearance of
righteousness before others. God looks for a true cleansing, so we can be clean
before God and man."
Doesn't that just change everything? To be clean before God and man?
It brings peace. Living this way - where the inside is as clean as the outside appears.....
.....there's no facade that goes along with that. There's no smokescreen. No cover-ups. No energy spent on mustering up a face that isn't actually felt.
What a way to live!
And God help me! Help us. We have gotten so good at fronting.
His way is so much better. When the outside of us is clean alone - that's our doing. But when the inside is clean - that's God's doing!
And when He wipes the inside - the outside naturally follows suit. When the crevasses of a woman's heart are filled with Light - it leaks out onto her person. There's no pressure on us to manufacture it. There's no shifting shadows. Do we have any idea how much more of impact this brings?...
....On the world? On our children? This is how our babes learn to be authentic. Kids get good at lying - kids are trained in trickery - kids are infinitely insincere when they live with people who are masters of these things.
Parents! Influencers! We must create an atmosphere of honest transparency in our homes - a place where our children actually see what's not good in us...but then they see it dealt with. They see it acknowledged and handed over. And they see us being okay with the world seeing it all, too.
Me and you being one-faced rather than two....this will change our children for eternity.
*When our children see us living on the inside of our home's walls - the same way we live on the outside of them.....
*When we can get to the place where the world witnesses what these pieces of dry-wall witness...
*When our children see us speak to our husbands the way we speak to our friends....
That is righteous consistency. And there is much power in that.
This is true with homes and children...this is true with churches...it's true with places of employment....and it's also true with blogs.
Because what's being punched out on the screen needs to match what He's scribbling on the heart.
This steadfastness - it needs to run across the board.
And in doing so.... we will reap a harvest of righteousness in all our arenas.
What a way to live!
And God help me! Help us. We have gotten so good at fronting.
His way is so much better. When the outside of us is clean alone - that's our doing. But when the inside is clean - that's God's doing!
And when He wipes the inside - the outside naturally follows suit. When the crevasses of a woman's heart are filled with Light - it leaks out onto her person. There's no pressure on us to manufacture it. There's no shifting shadows. Do we have any idea how much more of impact this brings?...
....On the world? On our children? This is how our babes learn to be authentic. Kids get good at lying - kids are trained in trickery - kids are infinitely insincere when they live with people who are masters of these things.
Parents! Influencers! We must create an atmosphere of honest transparency in our homes - a place where our children actually see what's not good in us...but then they see it dealt with. They see it acknowledged and handed over. And they see us being okay with the world seeing it all, too.
Me and you being one-faced rather than two....this will change our children for eternity.
*When our children see us living on the inside of our home's walls - the same way we live on the outside of them.....
*When we can get to the place where the world witnesses what these pieces of dry-wall witness...
*When our children see us speak to our husbands the way we speak to our friends....
That is righteous consistency. And there is much power in that.
This is true with homes and children...this is true with churches...it's true with places of employment....and it's also true with blogs.
Because what's being punched out on the screen needs to match what He's scribbling on the heart.
This steadfastness - it needs to run across the board.
And in doing so.... we will reap a harvest of righteousness in all our arenas.
*****************
As we prepare our homes for Christmas festivities - let's prepare our hearts for celebrating His sacrifice.
May you have a blessed Christmas.
