Inside or Outside Transformation?

We are truly a people who invest greatly in outward appearance. According to stats reported by World Watch Institute, the amount of money still needed to provide water and sanitation for all people in developing nations is $9 billion. The amount spent annually in the U.S. on cosmetics is $8 billion. 

I made a vow some years ago that I would never spend more time in a day on my outward appearance than I would spend on time with Jesus - praying, listening, meditating, reading. I’m sure that there have been many bad hair days when I broke that vow, but I’m still committed to being more beautiful inside than outside.

The question is… how do we teach and encourage our children to care more about becoming a new creature on the inside when the world is constantly focused on outward appearance. The answer is simple… MODEL IT.  I’m not saying throw out your mascara, but I am saying that they need to see you as a transformed individual who walks with their God, allowing Him to shape you into who He created you to be and giving Him the credit for that transformation.

 “Lord, make us new so that our kids can see the transformation taking place as we submit to His will and are slowly but surely being transformed into His image.”

"I have been crucified in relation to the world, set free from the stifling atmosphere of pleasing others and fitting into the little patterns that they dictate. Can't you see the central issue in all this? It is not what you and I do  ...  it is what God is doing, and he is creating something totally new, a free life!"                                                                                                                Galatians 6:14-15 (tm)