Looking At What Is On The Inside - Our Spiritual Nature

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” – 2 Corinthians 4:16-17

I am two months away from being 69 years old.  69!!! I cannot hardly believe it.  I have become my grandfather! When I look in the mirror, I see someone who resembles who I was but sometimes I wonder who that is staring back at me.  But why don’t I feel like I am about to be 69?  I have always found it curious, that I don’t feel older on the inside.

Our nature is to look at the outside of a person and make judgements about them.  We all do it.  Jesus spoke to that natural tendency.

“You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. 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.” – Matthew 23:24-26

He was speaking about the inner man.  The heart of a person that God sees and men don’t.  At least not without the help of the Spirit of God, that is.  I believe that every person is aware of their inner-self because it is God’s way of revealing Himself and our true nature, even to the lost. Inside, I feel, well, ageless.  Think about it.  Like Paul said “Outwardly we are wasting away, but inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” 

The more you are aware of God, the more you are aware of your true nature – the you God created you to be.  People seek to find themselves – but most often, to the exclusion of a Creator God.  That is man’s rebellion.  Our natural tendency is to want to be like God, but without God.  It will never happen.  The God who created you has ordained the conditions of your relationship with Him and has made the way, through Jesus, for you to be who He intended you to be.  No other way.

The next time you look in the mirror, try look past the face and body you see. Look at the inner you.  The eternal you.  And maybe – just maybe you will see a reflection of Jesus – the first born among many. (Romans 8:29)