UGLY?

I enjoy watching real life TV and documentaries. Recently I watched a show that I watch quite often called “Taboo.” This particular episode was entitled “UGLY.” During the show they interviewed a young boy named “Michael” and his family. “Michael” had been born with a face disfiguring disease. He was born without ears and had so few bones in his face that his eye sockets weren’t in the right place.

Over the years “Michael” has had so many surgeries to fix his face that his parents finally decided that enough was enough. They agreed that he would only have surgery to improve the quality of his life, but that he would no longer have surgeries solely to correct his appearance.

They enrolled him in school and began raising him alongside their “normal” looking son. As parents they realized and accepted that “Michael” would never look “normal in the eyes of anyone except them. They shared their struggles of how “Michael” endures daily stares, laughs and ridicule everywhere he goes. He’s called a monster, freak, scary…you name it.

Their story made me think.

So many place emphases on looks, that often times they forget the ugliness that lies inside the hearts of millions. It is easy to see someone that you consider “ugly” and write them off or turn away from them because of their appearance.

But, have you ever met someone who was beautiful or handsome on the outside then once you got to know them you realized they were hideous on the inside? Consider the story of David in I Samuel. Based on his outer appearance David was almost over looked by his own father for a job God intended for him to do.

Eliab, David’s brother was recommended for David’s job totally based on his looks. I Samuel 16:7 says “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or physical statue, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

So the next time you see someone you consider “ugly”, check your heart. Are they really “ugly” or is that ugliness inside you?

Think about it.