Inner beauty Ps 51:10-17
Our heavenly father, the creator of heaven and earth is undoubtedly beautiful beyond description. We can see the wonderful works of His hands even though we do not see Him. As His children created in His image we are meant to be beautiful as well.
Beauty is a combination of qualities in a person/thing that gives pleasure to the sense or the mind.
Are you beautiful inside and outside?
Within the next two weeks, we will focus more on the inward beauty.
(Outer beauty in terms of physical appearance, hygiene, dressing etc is also very important. Please discuss this with your children especially those approaching puberty)
- The psalmist prayed for a new heart and a right spirit Ps 51:10, this is inner beauty. A clean heart and a right spirit brings together a combination of qualities that make our lives pleasing unto the Lord such as: Love, goodness, clear conscience, purity, words of wisdom, diligence, graceful attitude/behaviour.
2. Why do we need a clean heart?
*Heart here is not referring to the physical cardiovascular organ. It refers to our inner being.
The actions we perform and the expression of our feelings all originate from the state of our heart. For instance, the choice of words we use , the clothes we choose to wear, the places we visit are all processed first of all in our heart.
Family discussion: Make a list of qualities of inner beauty that seem to be lacking or need improvement in your family without picking on anyone. Discuss each one and pray that the Holy spirit will help to make that quality find expression in your lives e.g attitude/behaviour.
Do you have children whose attitude (the way they feel) when corrected is not appropriate and their actions (behaviour) is unacceptable sometimes?
Refer to the previous notes on ‘attitude‘. Explain with examples (without naming anyone) how to take correction and make improvement.
Activity 1: Ask the children to mention some behaviours that are acceptable or unacceptable to God. See from the bible the consequences of such good or bad behaviour e.g Esther’s obedience to the eunuch, Ruth’s loyalty to her mother-in-law, King David’s lustful behaviour.
Activity 2: Encourage everyone to make Ps 51:10 a daily prayer asking God to not only forgive us, but give us a new heart which is pure, that is, all previous sins and errors have been wiped out and we can start another day with a right spirit and live to please God. This prayer gives room for daily repentance before the Lord and regular re-examination of our way of life to ensure that it is pleasing unto our maker.
Reflection: Take a few minutes to think about all that has been discussed. Ask each family member to write out action points and support one another to achieve your set goals.
Memory verse: Gal 5:19-21
Prayer: Thank you Lord for your word. Holy Spirit help us to see those aspects of our life that we may think ‘it doesn’t matter’, yet they compromise our inner beauty, and help us to work on improving those areas 1Pet 1:16.
Raising Godly Children 