Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own
understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall
direct your paths.
— Proverbs 3:5–6 (NIV)
us to live according to Matthews 6:25-33. To
get an idea of the financial cost, wrap your
brain around this. According to an article in
The Huffington Post, “…women spend over
$426 billion a year on beauty products….”
while Glamour Fashions revealed, “The Average Woman Spends Almost $25,000 on Shoes
in Her Lifetime!”, and Madame Noire marveled, “What Spending a Half a Trillion Dollars
on Hair Care and Weaves Says About Us.”
Outward adornments are temporal and can
never replace what is really needed--the love
of Christ and the Holy Spirit living within us,
making us whole and allowing the beauty of
Christ’s Spirit to cover our flaws and radiate
from the inside out.
In other words, what shows up on
the outside reflects what is inside the heart
according to Proverbs 23:7. Allowing Christ to
adorn us with the Holy Spirit which is not only
free, but never goes out of style or wears out,
keeps us in tune to his will and purpose for
our lives. When our confidence is grounded in
Proverbs 3:5-6 which tells us to trust God and
not in our own wisdom, we can believe in ourselves because we have relinquished control
so that God can guide us in every situation.
And when our esteem is woven in Philippians
4:13 which remind us we can do all things
through the strength we receive from Christ,
we know it is through him that we feel capa-
ble and not of our own flesh. Likewise, when
our sufficiency is sustained by Luke 12:2223 which admonishes us not to worry about
our life, our food or clothes, then we know
it is because God will supply all of our needs
according to his riches in glory.
Not some things—but everything we
do should be done to the glory of God. So,
we must guard our minds and hearts at all
costs against the temptations of the flesh to
exalt ourselves rather than Christ. No matter
what anyone else can do to us, say about us
or devise against us, at the end of the day, we
are our own worst enemies.
This lesson can be difficult to learn.
Several years ago, I was confronted with this
truth in a book I had purchased but failed to
complete for fear of what the pages would
reveal. So, I, in my own wisdom (self) consciously decided as long as I “followed religious practices” it would suffice in serving
God. Little did I know, a void of the Holy Spirit
was sowing corruption to my flesh. Years later,
the Holy Spirit revealed to me that I must
deny my flesh and humble myself before God
and fellow human beings before he can abide
in me and live the life of Christ through me. I
have not arrived, but I am apprehending. The
Bible has many scriptures to teach us, and
Romans 8:6-11 is one passage that goes a
long way in making it easier to comprehend.
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