Does the Inside Match the Outside?

Does your inside match your outside? Appearances aren’t everything. Yet we are often attracted to something or someone because of how they look. How often do we stop to think about whether someone is projecting the truth about their character?

When the Inside Doesn’t Match: The Perfect House

It was a sturdy little house. The outside was painted cream and the clear windows reflected the burglar bars inside.

Security.

The verandah was fully grilled and I could picture my little family seated on lounge chairs enjoying the evening breeze. For days (maybe weeks!) we talked about it, wondering if it was time for us to make the giant leap to homeownership.

I have to admit – I prodded, he resisted. I cajoled. He hesitated. Every time we walked past the house – which was at least twice a day – we looked at it and pondered the possibilities.

Eventually, we decided to take the chance and schedule a walk-through. My husband was excited about the yard space and the fact that the house was literally across the road from the apartment where we lived (moving would be a breeze!) We couldn’t wait to see the inside of the house!

The wood panel door was attractively designed and added to our enjoyment of the viewing. The homeowner opened the door and our joy came crashing down!

There was so much … stuff … crammed into the space that there was scarcely room to walk.

To my eyes, it looked like junk, but to the owner, they were items to be sold – potential treasure.

I swallowed my trepidation and asked the questions an interested buyer should. As I listened to the answers, my eyes darted through the house while my mind cataloged the flaws: missing partitions, linoleum on the tiles –linoleum on the tiles!

Broken cupboards, no bathtub, dingy toilet, flimsy back door, and window… there were so many things that would need to be repaired before we could move in.

Yet, even with the flaws, my family and I seriously contemplated purchasing that house. This was Jamaica – the choices of homeownership were very limited and usually included a long commute to work. So, we went through the initial process.

But God –

He put so many roadblocks in our way that after earnestly praying about it, we decided against the purchase as we believed that He had said “no” to us owning that house.

I passed by the house one day – sitting empty 18 months after our first walk-through, and I wondered, “How many of us are like that house?”

On the outside we look very appealing – our clothes are well put together, we are neatly groomed … But inside … We’re a mess!

A mass of insecurities, wrong choices, doubt, and fear. We have unprotected areas in our lives that give the enemy easy access to our lives.

Instead of taking our battles to the One who can help, we try to take on the devil in our own strength with devastating results.

Looks Are Deceiving

The house was eventually sold and the new owner began the long, painful process of transformation.

She pulled down the old broken fences and the crumbling wall and put up a new fence and built a new wall.

The clutter inside the house had been cleared and she moved in and slowly began putting her mark on the house. Slowly but surely she transformed that old house.

“Why is transformation so important?” you may ask.

Be Transformed

According to the online dictionary, transformation is ”a thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance.”

As individuals, we need to seek this change, that complete metamorphosis of who and what we are.

We have to get to that place where we admit that we are desperately in need of a Savior.

We need Someone to clear the clutter that we cram into every available space of our lives.

We need Someone to give us a facelift from the inside out. That Savior is Jesus.

Have you met Him?

Have you acknowledged Him as Lord and Master of your life? Does your inside match your outside?

Have you surrendered wholeheartedly to Him?

We are told in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that if any man is in Christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away, behold, all things have become new. Yet we still choose to live separate from God. We choose to remain outside of His will doing our own thing.

Like the scribes and Pharisees we are “like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones” (Matthew 23:27 NIV).

Like that old house, I want a new owner to come and restore me. I want Jesus to come into my heart and do a deep spring cleaning.

I want him to get rid of the baggage of hate, envy, anger, selfish ambition, and all that junk that’s on my insides.

I want Him to hang the curtains of forgiveness, lay down the carpet of grace, and give me a fresh coat of love. I’m praying for transformation and I hope you are too.

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What’s preventing you from totally surrendering your life to Christ?

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