Summer is here, and it’s time to shape up your heart! Ask the Holy Spirit to create in you the “unfading loveliness of a gentle and quiet spirit” so that you may show the results of your salvation.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and looking at the month of June, it’s time to shape up - it’s June! Okay, so have you ever vacationed at one of those fancy hotels and you watched the people around the pool? You see women sauntering by in their wildly flowered suits with matching wrap-around skirts. Tanned muscular guys swimming laps. Or the college girls lounging across from you with their bare backs to the sun. Everywhere you look, you see sleek, trim bodies. It’s summertime, and I guess people like to look good and be in shape, right? And, you know, even though I'm in a wheelchair, I guess I’m no exception. I don’t mean having a trim, thin, tanned body… believe me, that’s not in the picture, at least for this quadriplegic. But I do think that women with disabilities have a special responsibility to look their best. It’s a way of saying, you know, “I care about myself, I do my best to stay in shape and take care of my body, no matter what its limitations.”
But the sporty, stylish month of June can’t help but draw a contrast with a lovelier, more compelling kind of beauty described in 1 Peter 3, for it says, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment… elaborate hairstyles… the wearing of gold jewelry… fine clothes… Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” You know, friend, that’s the kind of beauty that goes far deeper than covering your gray, losing pounds, or getting in a good workout. Outward appearance isn’t even half of it. 1 Peter’s describing the “inner beauty;” the deep beauty of godly character – a pure heart, graceful words, kind eyes, and a tender smile. I mean, don’t we all want to look like that? You know, I read these verses in 1 Peter and, man, I just want my inner self – I want that place where the Holy Spirit resides – I want to shape up who I am. You know, the inside Joni. ’Cause just this morning as I was praying with a friend, I confessed, “Lord, when I am in conversation, keep me from jumping right in with my opinions. Help me to be a better listener. I don’t want to be the kind of person who always needs to get her point of view across. Help me to be like it says in 1 Peter, have a quiet and gentle spirit. A listening spirit.” You know, I have a feeling if I keep pursuing that, I will possess that unfading beauty. And I like that part about it being, “unfading.” It’s got to keep getting lovelier with age.
Now, all this is good news for those who will never look quite ‘right’ in a swimsuit, or tennis gear, or in golf or hiking shorts. And it is very good news for people like me who will never swim one lap, let alone twenty! So again, it’s summer, and I ask you, “In what kind of shape do you find yourself this month?” Well, find a balance between your outward appearance and what is really happening on the inside. Ask God to help you enhance your inner beauty and, if you are near a mirror, look past your reflection and deep into your soul. Ask the Spirit to reach down inside you to create that “unfading loveliness of a gentle… spirit.” Get in shape! Philippians 2:12 is your workout program; it says, “Work hard [that is, get in shape] to show the results of your salvation.” They can’t bottle and sell “godly character” at the poolside kiosk of a fancy hotel, but it’s available. That inner beauty, that inside loveliness is always, always, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Go today to joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends