Where's Your Heart?

"These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away." 
Matthew 15:8


We live in a world where we constantly compare ourselves to others. What we wear. How we look. What talents we have, or don't have. How rich. How poor. How ordinary or extraordinary. It's easy to feel inferior and hard to feel superior. It's easy to see all of our faults and shortcomings and hard to see what makes us special, unique, and valuable.

We are special, unique, and valuable--every one of us. But when we measure ourselves against what others expect or we expect, we will always fall short. Even when we are beautiful, successful, and noteworthy, there will always be others who are more so. There is no such thing as being good enough or being at the top. Those places do not exist, therefore, in our minds, we will always fail to some degree.

What then should we use to measure ourselves? What scale gives us an accurate reading of our value, significance, and accomplishments? How do we know how we're doing? As a Christian you may think your worth lies in how much good stuff you do, how many Bible verses you memorize, how often you pray or read your Bible or share the Good News with others.  But these too are only man-made scales.

Jesus was approached by some religious men who asked Him why His disciples weren't following all the rules of Jewish tradition. In their eyes, Jesus and His disciples were falling short. Jesus responded by asking them why they weren't living in obedience to God. They thought they were perfect, but He said, "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away."

They were being religious, but they weren't trusting God. They were acting intelligent and wise--as if they were wiser than Jesus, but He knew their hearts were elsewhere. They weren't focused on God and His love, they were focused on themselves and being superior to everyone else.

Sometimes others can make us feel stupid for how we dress, the choices we make, and the beliefs we have. We may think we have to please these people and change for them, but we don't. Jesus would call them blind and foolish for what they think is important and right, and He would call me foolish if I thought I had to please them by changing my appearance, making the choices they make, or striving for what they call successful.

My value and worth is found in God alone. In His love for me. Living in obedience to Him is about believing He loves me enough to tell me what is best for me. Only God can know that. Only He can lead me on the paths He has for me. Only in keeping my heart close to Him can I know how loved and treasured I truly am.



"I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is good and leads you along the paths you should follow." Isaiah 48:17


*Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.  All rights reserved.