Devotional: Never Judge A Book By It's Cover

I was in my room last night and I was thinking about a conversation I had with some of my friends on Sunday about true beauty when it hit me: if we try to adapt our physical appearance to what the world considers true beauty, none of us would live up to expectations. It actually made me mad. I realized that for so long, I was trying to physically be what the world wanted me to be, and I was always getting down on myself because I wasn't adding up. 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 says, "Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened because we don not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life." If you look at this verse in the sense of how we view our outward appearance, it makes a lot of sense. I don't think I know one person that is truly satisfied with every part of their appearance. The word does say though that this will not always be what we look like. Our bodies are just temporary. 2 Corinthians 4:7 says, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us." If you think about how clay jars are made, it's quite unique. Each work, once the design is finished, must be placed in a kiln. A kiln is a heating source, and you must heat the kiln to 1,300 degrees Celsius. With this type of heat, you never know how your creation may turn out. If you use yourself if relation to this type of heat, it makes sense. Our physical appearance is affected by the heat of the world, both physically and emotionally. None of us are going to look perfect when we come out of the kiln. However, God never intended us to be obsessed with our physical appearance. 1 Peter 3:3-4 says, "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." While God doesn't want us to completely let our physical appearance go, he doesn't want that to be the center or our focus. Psalm 139:13-14 says, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." So next time you're getting ready to go somewhere and you are in panic over how you look, just remember that you are beautiful because God made you beautifully. Don't worry so much about your appearance :)