The Inner Life – Jennifer Woodley
‘Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.”’ Luke 11:39 (NRSV)
To maintain the right relationship between the inward and outward life is a real challenge for today’s believer. There is a danger in Christianity that we focus more on the outer life, than our inner communion with our Heavenly Father.
It is not the intensity of our Bible study, the frequency of our church attendance, our long prayers or good works that make for a healthy and robust spiritual life. No, Christianity is a matter of the heart and only through daily communion with our Father in the inner chamber of our heart will we be made strong and holy.
Jesus, in the above passage, denounced the Pharisees who exalted external religious practices and yet neglected to keep their heart pure by yielding their inner lives to God. (See also Matthew 23:27-28). God dwells by His Spirit in our heart and it is here that He seeks to fellowship with our spirit who can know and love Him.
Let us look in our hearts and there we will find our Savior. If we feel and see nothing of God, it may be because we seek Him first in books, in church activities or outward religious practices. We will not find Him there until we have found Him in our hearts.
And then, as we give ourselves to God in our inner life, our outward life will be made pure in practice and truly reflect that we have been with our Father.
Jennifer is an Australian freelance writer who enjoys encouraging others on their journey with Christ through writing. Contact