FROM THE INSIDE OUT
Scripture: Mark 7:13–23
One of my favorite Disney movies is Inside Out. It's about a young girl navigating the challenges of growing up while her family moves to a new city. The movie takes us on a journey inside her mind, where we see the emotions responsible for how she responds to everything happening around her. Sadness begins to take over, fear creeps in, and Joy desperately tries to regain control.
What makes this movie so fascinating is that it gives us a glimpse of what's happening on the inside that's producing what we see on the outside.
And I wonder how many of us are living the same way.
We see the frustration, the anger, the anxiety, the broken relationships, and the decisions we wish we could take back. We desperately try to fix what's happening around us without ever stopping to examine what's happening within us.
We're so busy trying to change what's happening on the outside that we neglect what's broken on the inside.
In Mark 7:13–23, Jesus confronts this very issue. The religious leaders had become consumed with traditions, rituals, and outward appearances. They believed that doing all the right things would somehow produce a heart that pleased God. But Jesus exposes a sobering truth: no amount of external activity can cleanse a heart corrupted by sin.
Have you ever felt like you were doing everything right? You were going to church, reading your Bible, praying, making the right decisions, and practicing all the right disciplines. Yet something still felt off.
Despite everything you were doing, your mind was still consumed with doubt. Lust still found its way into your thoughts. You looked like you had it all together on the outside, but on the inside, you were fighting battles nobody knew existed.
Trying so hard to be the person you know God has called you to be, only to find yourself wrestling with the same thoughts, desires, and failures.
Jesus tells us that our greatest problem is the sin that lives within us. And no matter how disciplined, determined, or religious we become, we cannot cure ourselves.
We don't simply need better habits. We need a new heart.
And that's exactly what Jesus came to give us.
Through His death and resurrection, Jesus accomplished what we could never accomplish on our own. When we surrender our lives to Him and place our faith in His finished work, He cleanses us from sin and gives us new life.
So when you find yourself discouraged because you've made the same mistake again, when you're frustrated because you're doing all the right things but still struggling with the wrong desires, remember this:
Your hope isn't in your ability to get everything right. Your hope is in Jesus' ability to make you right with God.
You don't have to pretend that everything is fine on the outside when you're falling apart on the inside. Bring your whole heart to Jesus, including the parts you're ashamed of, the struggles you're tired of fighting, and the desires you wish you didn't have.
He isn't asking you to clean yourself up before coming to Him. He's inviting you to come to Him so He can make you clean.
Because Jesus doesn't just change what people see. He transforms what only God can see.
He works from the inside out.
Reflection: What have you been trying to fix on the outside that you need to surrender to Jesus on the inside?