How much time did you spend getting ready this morning?
Maybe you brushed your teeth, fixed your hair, picked out your clothes…
Now here’s the harder question.
How much time did you spend strengthening the part of you that’s going to live forever?
Most of us spend hours maintaining the outward person—and only minutes feeding the inward one.
I believe one of Satan’s greatest strategies is to keep Christians busy polishing the outside while neglecting the soul. The Holy Spirit dwells within us. Spiritual strength isn’t produced by our circumstances—it is produced by the condition of our heart.
“Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”
—2 Corinthians 4:16
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
—Proverbs 4:23
“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good… for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”
—Luke 6:45
The problem isn’t that our lives are too busy. The problem is that we’re strengthening the wrong parts of ourselves.
THREE REASONS WE NEGLECT THE INNER PERSON
1. We’ve Lost an Eternal Perspective
We spend enormous energy on temporary things while neglecting the one part of us that will never die. Our souls are eternal and Everything invested in that and our relationship with Christ will last forever.
What if you invested in your soul the way you invest in your appearance, career, hobbies, or finances?
2. The World Values the Body More Than the Heart
Culture tells us:
Look younger.
Make more money.
Build your platform.
Flex your value.
God says something completely different.
“But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature… for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”
—1 Samuel 16:7
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…”
—Romans 12:2
3. The Inner Life Doesn’t Receive Applause
Nobody celebrates when you…
• Pray in secret.
• Forgive someone.
• Wait quietly before God.
• Repent.
• Obey when no one is watching.
• Choose humility.
The greatest victories often happen where no one sees.
But God sees.
How do we strengthen the inner person?
This can’t happen through religious performance. It happens when we abide in Jesus.
Here are some Practicals:
• Reading Scripture
• Prayer
• Worship
• Silence before God
• Repentance
• Obedience
• Trust
These are not religious duties. They’re ways we stay connected to Christ.
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine… for without me ye can do nothing.”
—John 15:4–5
You don’t build a storm shelter during the hurricane.
You build it beforehand.
Likewise…
You don’t suddenly become spiritually mature when suffering arrives.
It’s through the suffering we discover how well we’ve been cultivating our inner life all along.
“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.”
—Matthew 7:24–25
“And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not… great was the fall of it.”
—Matthew 7:26–27
“And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water… his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
—Psalm 1:3
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith…”
—Colossians 2:6–7
I’ve noticed something in my own life.
When my prayer life is thriving, everything else changes.
Not because life becomes easier…
But because my inner world becomes stronger than my outward circumstances.
Here are things I want you to consider:
What am I feeding my spirit on a daily basis?
Whatever we feed on, is the foundation of our development.
God is inviting you to become rooted.
Because when the storms come—and they will—it is the strength of the inward man that determines if we’ll stand.
“That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;”
—Ephesians 3:16
“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,”
—Ephesians 3:17
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
—Galatians 5:22–23
