But the Lord Looks at the Heart

1 Sam 16:7
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

This is a tremendous piece of information about how the Lord deals with us. It's our heart's attitudes that are important to God. Most people see only the outward appearance, how skinny, or fat, how tall or how small, what kind of clothes, or even what color your skin is. Maybe because of how much education one has or not, or what kind of jobs that you have had, those are all outward appearances.

When most hear this, it strikes fear into some people. They feel they are better in their actions than they are in their hearts. But for the true believers in Jesus, we have been given new hearts that are perfect. Our born-again spirit is as righteous and holy as Jesus is (1Jo 4:17).

Therefore, this is a tremendous comfort to those who are true Christians. God sees us in Christ, in our born-again spirit, and what He sees is perfect, even though our actions aren't.

2Co 5:17 says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Our spirits are the only part of us that is exactly like Jesus IN THIS WORLD. What a powerful truth. Since God is a Spirit (Joh 4:24), and we have to approach Him in spirit and in truth, then God can freely fellowship with us because our born-again spirits are just like Him. What a deal!