This year there was a twist at the annual ornament exchange party—the attendee with the most beautifully wrapped gift would receive a prize. Oh, you should have seen the packages as they arrived—all shiny and bright dressed in shimmering paper and flaunting fancy ribbons. Many of the women (myself included!) had spent time wrapping these packages. Most were exquisite, though some were just average-looking, and a few were not attractive at all. As the ladies poured in and the pile of gifts grew more and more magnificent, I set my eye on the most lovely of all and determined that I should choose it above all the others. Surely, I assumed, whatever was inside would match or even exceed the splendor of the wrapping.

As the ornament exchange began it was filled with surprise after surprise. I quickly learned that the quality of the wrapping often didn’t match the quality of the gift at all. Sometimes expensive treasures were in average bags, or lovely gifts in ugly paper, but most surprisingly of all, in the gift I selected—in the most beautiful package of all—there was a lame little Dollar Store trinket made out of pipe cleaner and glue.

Looks can be deceiving.

The lady who brought my gift did indeed win the prize for best gift wrap, which I think turned out to be a scented bar of soap. But when the time came time to trade gifts, I can assure you that no one even glanced my way. You see, I didn’t hold the true treasure. The true treasures (what had actual value) had been hidden inside the boxes and all the beautiful wrapping paper and ribbons ended up in the trash.

And so it is with our lives.

The outward appearance of our lives can seem deceitfully important and we may find ourselves spending enormous amounts of time keeping up the image we want other people to see. But the scriptures teach that what matters to God—what has actual value—is who we are on the inside. Jesus saw right through the actions of people who tried to appear holy on the outside but didn’t love God on the inside. He said “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me… They are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.”

Looks can be deceiving—but not to Jesus.

Jesus knows that in this world it seems like the prizes are given for the best wrapping—for those who know how to put on a show or appear to always have it all together. But the reality is that this world’s prizes are like that bar of soap—temporary and of little true value. What has lasting value, according to Jesus—the One who overcame this world and has a higher way of looking at things—is a sincere heart.

For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks on the heart.
I Samuel 16:7b

Scriptures referenced: Isaiah 29:13; Jeremiah 12:2; Matthew 15:8; 23:26-28; Mark 7:6. See also: Acts 2:46; I Timothy 1:5; Hebrews 10:22; I Peter 1:22