The Inside Counts

I wonder if the homeowners knew how unhealthy this tree really was.  The green leaves and the bark on the outside of the trunk left travelers like myself the impression that the tree was healthy.  In reality, the tree was rotting from the inside out.

The fallen tree had me thinking the rest of the way up to the job site.

Am I taking care of my insides?  Or am I just faking it hoping everyone thinks I’m doing fine?

Many people dress to impress.  We wine and dine.  We spend like there is no tomorrow.  And we put on a shell that doesn’t give bystanders a real picture of what is on the inside.

Self-examination and transparency with a few close confidants is required to give an honest assessment of what is really going on inside our skin.  Are we filling our minds with things that honor God?  Or are we filling our heads with trash?  Are we feeding our hearts and souls with “nutrition”?  Or are we consuming “junk food”?

These aren’t questions you can answer in the comments of a blog post.  These are questions you must intentionally ponder.

When you arrive at your answer, you have a decision to make:  What do you need to start doing to build a healthy inside?  What do you need to stop doing to prevent further rotting inside?  And what do you need to keep doing to stay on track and to build a life that honors God from the inside out?

These are the questions I leave you with today.  Truly dwelling on these questions and your answers should keep you stretching.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Philippians 4:8

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.