Richard Dawson, 19 August 2014

Never judge by appearances. We have a bias towards the physical and the visual. Why this is, I am not sure but that it is the case I am positive. Without at all wanting to dismiss people who are physically beautiful I can say without fear of contradiction that the people who’ve most impressed me in life have, without exception, been neither beautiful nor impressive in their physical stature. Don’t get me wrong, I am as impressed by beauty as the next man (or woman as the case may be!) But there is so much more to people than how they look and we Christians must begin to learn this from the earliest age because we, of all people, know the value of one’s spirit. We are, if nothing else, a ‘spiritual people,’ a people who focus on the Spirit and are aware of the importance of our own spirits for it is via our spirits that God’s Spirit speaks to us as Paul understands it… “When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.” And it is towards that spirit that we should direct our attention as Christians for it is the state of our spirits which makes us truly who we are. I cannot tell you how much more attractive I find those who have a beautiful spirit. There is a purity and a transparency and a simplicity about those who’ve allowed their spirits to be touched and changed by the Spirit of God which simply cannot be ignored. And it is so much more significant that how we look.