From the inside out

CHRISTIAN LIVING TODAY

Have you, or someone you know, had skin cancer removed?

The care instructions said, “To heal, you must keep it moist so the wound will heal from the inside out.” The first time this occurs, the doctor’s instruction seems a bit strange, as you’ve never watched this type of healing happen before. The instructions continue, “If you do this, you will have a small scar, or maybe no scar at all.” And this works.

Scripture also compares the “inside” with the “outside.” One passage says, “All these evils come from within and defile a person.” Mark 7:14-23 is the proper context, where Jesus addressed His disciples with this question: “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him; because … it goes into his stomach and is eliminated.”

Jesus continued, “That which proceeds out of man is what defiles the man … evil thought, obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, wickedness, deceit, carousing, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.” Then in verse 23, which sums it all up, “This is the source of your pollution.”

In a nutshell, Jesus declares that we need healing from the inside out. We need to identify and purge those things that defile us.

I need to assess my motives, ideas, opinions and comments and be truthful with myself about their origins. Are my motives, ideas and comments the result of wickedness? Am I deceitful? Mere gossip or slander?

There is hope. God wants better for us. For our “outside” to look clean, we must ensure that the inside is equally clean (Luke 11:39). Jesus reprimanded the religious leaders because they worked so hard to look good, but their outside was like a whitewashed tomb with dead bones inside it.

The good news is that God knows us. He realizes we are but clay (Psalm 103:14). He desires integrity and wisdom from us (Psalm 51:6). His Word encourages us to ask for wisdom, turn to Him for direction, and to “learn what is pleasing to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:10).

As we work with God to clean up the inside, healing begins showing on the outside. People notice your different attitude, a milder temper and a kind demeanor.

We represent Him to people around us.

My prayer today is that we represent Jesus as healed vessels, honoring the Lord. Until next week, Anita

Onarecker, an Elgin resident, author of “Divine Appointment: Our Journey to the Bridge” and minister to women and adults, earned a Master of Christian Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2007.