Outward appearance (2)

Outward appearance can reveal the truth

Spiritually

Matthew 7:16–20 NABRE

By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them.

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Emotionally

Proverbs 15:13 NABRE

A glad heart lights up the face, but an anguished heart breaks the spirit.

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Outward appearance can be deceptive

Matthew 23:25–28 NABRE

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.

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While people may judge by outward appearance, God does not

People take note of outward appearance

John 7:23–24 NABRE

If a man can receive circumcision on a sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a whole person well on a sabbath? Stop judging by appearances, but judge justly.”

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God looks at the heart

1 Samuel 16:6–7 NABRE

As they came, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the anointed is here before the Lord.” But the Lord said to Samuel: Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. God does not see as a mortal, who sees the appearance. The Lord looks into the heart.

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The folly of boasting in outward appearance

Luke 20:45–47 NABRE

Then, within the hearing of all the people, he said to his disciples, “Be on guard against the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and love greetings in marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation.”

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What is unseen is more important than outward appearance

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 NABRE

Therefore, we are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal.

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Beautiful physical appearance

Examples of the problems and opportunities caused by beautiful outward appearance

Sarah’s beauty led to Abraham’s folly; Joseph’s handsome appearance led to his being tempted by Potiphar’s wife; ; ; ; Bathsheba’s beauty tempted David; ; ; Esther’s beauty was an opportunity for God.

The cultivation of inner beauty encouraged

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