A picture is worth a thousand words. But these words must still be true to carry the weight and significance needed to make an impact for good. And appearances are only skin deep without the true essence of character and soul to sustain it.
For instance, many people that go to the gym are more concerned about appearing healthy and strong than actually being healthy and strong. While they might spend hours toning various parts of their physique, this doesn’t always translate into functional and useful strength. As such, their strength is merely skin deep in the sense that it’s not used to bring more life and goodness into the world.
And this is true throughout our life and relationships. As Jesus taught, there will be many who are like whitewashed tombs – appearing good on the outside, but filled with death and corruption beneath the surface.
For example, this might be following the letter of the law but not its spirit. While technically doing all the right things, if there’s no evidence of love, joy, peace, or the like flowing from our actions, our righteousness is only skin deep. Much more than right action on the surface, our hearts must also be centered on God.
At the same time, our words remain shallow when our actions don’t match what we profess. Talking about the importance of loving others is not the same as doing good for them. Better to silently give someone a cup of water than to keep talking while they remain thirsty.
And, to be fair, much of the world we live in also values appearances more so than substance. We’ve settled for junk food, cheap entertainment, and leaders who merely tell us what we want to hear, rather than pursuing the truth, goodness, and beauty that satisfies body and soul.
In the end, it’s okay to look good. But our strength must be more than just skin deep to truly be good.
Photo by WALID CHARAFI on Unsplash
