Outward Appearances

Lately I have been working on losing weight. I haven't been very successful. I have been careful to not eat too much and I have been exercising. Still, not much difference in my appearance. But I can feel the difference. My body is capable of more.

 I also have been working on spiritual growth. I show up on time to church every Sunday with my kids. I usually have pretty good answers to the questions in Sunday school and Relief Society. I think I appear to be doing pretty well. But is it indicative of actual growth? I think I am making progress, but the change isn't visible to anyone else.

 In Matthew 23, Christ condemns the Pharisees for appearing clean on the outside, but being filthy inside. I get a bit frustrated sometimes because the inside and the outside don't match. I don't look quite the way I want to. And sometimes I think others have too high of an opinion about me. I don't always feel very spiritually competent. But according to my Savior, I shouldn't be paying much attention to those outward appearances. I should be focused on cleansing the inner vessel. No matter what my appearance to others, others I need to continually work on improving myself. That way, the version of myself that I see and that my Heavenly Father sees will be beautiful.

 25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of aextortion and bexcess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, acleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto awhited bsepulchres, which indeed appear cbeautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all duncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear arighteous unto men, but within ye are full of bhypocrisy and iniquity.