Looking Good!!

I do comb my hair each morning before I leave the house, or I throw on an old cap. I am very conscious of how I look. I can’t control the thinning of my hair and the wrinkles in my skin. I can control my overall appearance to some extent. There are people walking around that look as healthy as can be, but they have significant health issues.

The older I get the more I realize that looks are so deceiving. When I see people who look like they have it all together, they often don’t. I know that some people believe that me and my family have it all together – we don’t.

I’ve been serving in church leadership since I was in college. I served as a weekend pastor and then as a student pastor for 20 years. I’ve since served in church leadership behind the scenes as well as publicly. None of past or present positions matter IF my heart is full of pride, sin, and deception. I can look good on the outside but be sick inside. In some of those seasons of serving, my heart has needed a lot of help from the Lord to be made pure again by the Lord.

Jesus called out the religious leaders of His day. I think some of His strongest words were reserved for them because of the condition of their hearts. They looked religious but were very prideful and deceitful. Check this out…

⁵ “Everything they do is for show. ….

¹¹ The greatest among you must be a servant. ¹² But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. (Matthew 23:5a, 11-12 NLT)

I need the Lord’s help with my heart EVERY day!

I can get carried away with my position of authority or I can rest of my journey with the Lord. My heart today matters now. I can’t rest on my faith journey of the past. I seek Him today for today. My journey with the Lord sets up my ultimate destination. Just because I “say” I follow Him doesn’t mean I do indeed. (Talk is cheap!) Just because it “looks” like I follow Him doesn’t mean I do. (I can fake it!)

I want to walk in humility before the Lord and serve others with the same humility. It’s not about thinking I’m less of a person but thinking of myself less.

Jesus modeled servant leadership. He taught with authority because of His relationship with His Father.

I don’t want to just “look good”, I want to be good with the Lord and with anyone He puts in my path. I want my heart to be clean inside so that my outward facing activities reveal a good-hearted servant of the Lord.

“Here’s my heart Lord speak what is true.”

Pressing On!

Dwayne