Makeover

Have you noticed how many "makeover" shows there are on television lately? There are home makeovers, body makeovers, style makeovers, children discipline makeovers...it seems that everyone is trying to take what they have and have someone else make it better or make it totally new. Everyone is searching for the perfect makeover to make their life complete or perfect. I'm just wondering how long it takes after the makeover is complete and the cameras are no longer rolling when the realization that the new look may have made a more attractive appearance or a more comfortable life but that it is all just the "faÁade" that had been altered. The hole is still there and dissatisfaction with self or circumstances still exist even if the outside package looks prettier. The heart is still empty. There is a longing for true change from the inside out...the kind of true change that only comes from a heart transformed by Jesus Christ.

Don't get me wrong... I'm not against makeovers per se, but if it is only the outside that is changed then what is rotten on the inside will eventually make its way back to the outside.

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they were so concerned about outward appearances. And from that perspective, the outside, they looked great. Jesus was much more concerned with what was on the inside.

Matthew 23:25-26."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."

Jesus could see the "inside." He could see their hearts and from that perspective it was pretty ugly in there. All Jesus could see was self-centeredness and greed. All they could think about was "self" and how they could get more of whatever their hearts desired. Jesus had the answer for making the inside beautiful, clean and satisfied. I remember all too well how I used to be only concerned with the "outside," with the appearance of things, yet my insides were so disgusting....until I invited Jesus in to occupy my heart. Therein is the true "makeover," the only "makeover" that really matters. This "makeover" is not a temporary fix or window dressing but a change from the inside and lasts for eternity.

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old had gone, the new has come."

MaryAnn

MaryAnn and John Kiernan have been married for 35 years, have 2 grown/married sons and are the proud grandparents of two grandsons. She serves at America's Keswick as a Biblical Counselor and also as Intake Coordinator for the Colony of Mercy. Her life verse is Romans 8:28.