You Can’t Fool God

 

By Andrea Merrell

The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7 NLT

Well-dressed. Well-spoken. The natural leader in every group. Some envied her. I felt intimidated by her. She appeared to have it all together and tied up in a perfect little bow.

But in this case, the rule of what you see is what you get did not apply.

Desperate for acceptance and approval, the woman lived a life of pretense. In reality, her seemingly perfect life was a fake. It didn’t take long for her façade to crumble.

Insecurity can cause us to do foolish things to try and appear as something or someone we’re not and were never meant to be. We can work so hard trying to fool others that we even fool ourselves. At least for a season.

But we can never fool God, the One who created us and knows us better than we know ourselves. He’s aware of every thought, hears every word, and sees every deed. He even keeps count of every hair on our head. He is well-acquainted with our weaknesses and aware of every sin we commit—yet He never criticizes, judges, or condemns.

God wants to set us free to be the unique individual He created us to be. That means no comparison. No trying to impress others. No pretense.

Be free to be you!

 

 Photo by Zuzana Ruttkay on Unsplash

You Can't Fool God

By Andrea Merrell

 

The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them.

People judge by outward appearance,

but the Lord looks at the heart.

1 Samuel 16:7 NLT 

As I listened to her story, it became evident the woman’s life was a disaster. No one knew. She had lived a life of pretense for years—even from herself.

This scenario reminded me of another story I heard once about another woman who appeared to have it all together. She was beautiful, smart, talented, benevolent, and highly respected in her community. On the outside, everything appeared to be perfect.

But one day the Lord showed the woman a picture of her heart. It was filled with envy, pride, criticism, and unforgiveness. God told her she was like a shiny, red apple—lovely and appealing on the outside—with a rotten core. She, too, had lived a life of pretense.

There’s an old proverb that says, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” The truth is while we might be able to fool those around us numerous times—and even ourselves—we can’t fool God. He sees straight through the pretense into the depths of our heart.

The good news is that in the blink of an eye, He can make us new from the inside/out when we submit ourselves to Him, confess our sins, and pray as David did, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” 

That’s a prayer He is waiting to hear.

(Photo courtesy of Blogpiks.com and Stuart Miles.)

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We might be able to fool those around us—and even ourselves—but we can’t fool God. He sees straight through the pretense into the depths of our heart. via@AndreaMerrell (Click to tweet.)

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No More Pretense

By Andrea Merrell

No one likes a hypocrite, a phony.

But aren’t we all hypocrites to some degree? Author Bob Gass says, “It’s not your shortcomings that make you a hypocrite, it’s hiding them and pretending you don’t have any.”

We all need acceptance and approval. An occasional pat on the back.  A hearty attagirl or attaboy. The problem comes when—in our desire to look good and impress—we live a life of pretense, hiding our faults and weaknesses so others will think we’ve got it all together. This unhealthy lifestyle can become addictive to the point where we completely lose sight of who we really are.

As Christians, we can’t be swayed by what’s popular or keep up with the Jones family. Listen to what The Message says in Ephesians 4:17-25:

And so I insist—and God backs me up on this—that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd. They’ve refused for so long to deal with God that they’ve lost touch not only with God but with reality itself. They can’t think straight anymore. Feeling no pain, they let themselves go in sexual obsession, addicted to every sort of perversion.

But that’s no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.

 What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.

God wants His children to live authentic, transparent lives so He can work through us to touch hurting people. Trying to be something or someone we were never created to be will cause us to live lives of frustration and discouragement. Knowing the truth—and knowing who we are in Christ—will set us free to be exactly who God created us to be.

We're all imperfect people, but God loves us just the way we are.

(Photos courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and Stuart Miles.)

TWEETABLES

It’s not your shortcomings that make you a hypocrite, it’s hiding them and pretending you don’t have any. (Click to Tweet.)

We're all imperfect people, but God loves us just the way we are. (Click to Tweet.)

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