“Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature… For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
When I was 16 years old, I joined a local gym because I wanted to change the way I looked. I was very skinny and obsessed with the thought of building muscles. So I asked my trainer how to lose fat around the chest—only to find out that you can't target fat loss in one area of your body. What a disappointment!
At first, Samuel must have been disappointed too when visiting Jesse's family. He had come to their home in Bethlehem to anoint a new king for Israel. Saul's reign was coming to an end, and when Samuel saw Eliab, Jesse's oldest son, he was impressed. The prophet thought, “This must be our new king!" Eliab was tall and handsome, with the kind of presence that naturally drew attention. He looked exactly like the kind of person people would choose as king. But God plainly replied, “ I have rejected him” (1 Samuel 16:7). This man had the perfect body—but he wasn't the perfect man in God's eyes!
Today, many of us want to be like Eliab, though. We go to the gym and work out so our bodies look a certain way. We use makeup and skincare to cover our imperfections. Whatever we post online needs to be polished and perfect. Our résumés need to stand out and draw attention. And when things don't work out the way we hope, our self-worth gets crushed. Recently, I talked to a friend who slipped into a deep depression after losing her job. Her colleagues had used and abused her at that workplace for years—until she thought that she wasn't valuable enough to be hired anywhere else.
But no amount of physical beauty or worldly success makes us valuable in God's eyes.
That's why the LORD told Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature.” How was Eliab's character? Would he be a good fit to be king? No, he wouldn't. And the worth and good looks the world sells us today are empty and vain in God's eyes.
At some point in life, we have to ask ourselves, “What makes me truly beautiful? What really matters to God?” It's not your résumé. It's not your accomplishments. It's not your social media profile. And it's certainly not your face or your body. Your true beauty is your inner worth. It is your character and your behavior. The way you react, speak, and treat others. This is why God doesn't want us to wear jewelry (Isaiah 3:20-21; 1 Peter 3:3-4; Ezekiel 7:19) and encourages us to beautify our characters instead.
Now, the funny part of that story is that David himself wasn't an ugly boy. You are not ugly. And my chest fat wasn't, either. The Bible says David had beautiful eyes and was “good-looking” (1 Samuel 16:12). In other words, your body and your face are still beautiful. Your résumé is still a masterpiece in progress. God doesn't make mistakes. When he created us on the sixth day, He said it was “very good.” You're the climax of His creation. He likes the way you smile and the way you do your hair. But beyond that, He loves your meek and patient character. That's what matters most to Him. There is nothing wrong with going to the gym. But let’s spend more time perfecting our personality, not our physique.
