It's What You Are On The Inside: Shrek Series

Even an ogre like Shrek, who freely withdraws from having any contact with other creatures, has a suppressed desire for companionship. Appearances are very deceitful.

It’s a theme that is picked up by the Bible. ‘Don’t judge by appearance or height,’ says the book of Samuel. ‘The Lord doesn’t make decisions the way you do. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at a person’s heart and their thoughts and intentions’ (1 Samuel 16.7).

In fact, the Bible says that all humans are made in the image of God. In an image-obsessed world, that’s something to think about. The Bible wasn’t talking about what God looks like, but how he is - a Creator God who loves others for who they are, and seeks their love in return.

God looks beyond our nose, which we think is too long, and our feet, which we think are too big. He looks beyond whether we think we are too tall or too short or too heavy or too thin. He looks inside the heart and sees what is there.

So, what does God look for in us? He searches for a heart that will accept His love. God is no respecter of persons. It doesn’t make any difference what you look like. He wants a heart that is ready to receive his love, and reflect that love to others.

I remember walking down the corridor of a hospital, when I saw someone in a wheelchair. I couldn’t tell if they were male or female, because their body was so twisted and bent. It turned out he was a boy, and he was in one of those motorised wheelchairs that can be controlled by the movement of just a finger or two.

This boy was motoring up and down the corridor, going faster than all the people walking along. He went to the end of the corridor, turned around and came back. As he raced along, I looked into his face and saw a great big smile and a look of exhilaration. It was clear that he’d just got the wheelchair, and all of this was the expression of joy in his new-found mobility. When I saw his face, I forgot about his body. I only saw the big smile, the sparkling eyes and a look of wonder.

I think God is like that. He doesn’t see the imperfections, the scars and scrapes. He looks straight into the heart. Is there love inside of you that reflects the love of God so that others can see?

Jesus once said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5.8). When we think of the heart, we tend to think of our emotions. We say things like, “I love you with all of my heart” or “I have a broken heart.” Yet in the Bible, the word ‘heart’ refers to more: it refers to our emotions, our intellect and our will.

That is why Solomon urges us in the Book of Proverbs (4.23) to ‘above all else, guard your heart, for it is the well-spring of life.’ The heart is the control centre of our lives. According to Jesus, ‘purity of heart’ isn’t about believing the right things. It isn’t about going through the right motions. It’s doing the right things with right motives.

St Augustine once wrote, ‘Before God can deliver us from ourselves, we must undeceive ourselves.’ We need unmixed motives, and transparent integrity.