Settle in: Take a deep breath. Turn off notifications on your phone if you can. Ask God to keep your heart still so you can hear what he wants to tell you today.

Thought starter

Our hearts are way more important than our image or appearance—but it’s easy to forget that.

 Here’s what we’ll learn in this Quick Quiet Time:

• God cares about who we are on the inside.
• The condition of our hearts determines how our lives will go. 
• When we give God our whole hearts, he can do his best work in our lives—shaping us into who we are meant to be.

People look at the outside, but God looks at the heart.

Read:

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

Lightbulb moment:

While people often care about looks, popularity, or talent, God cares about who we really are inside. 

• 1 Samuel 16 tells us about a man named Samuel who was choosing the next king.
• Samuel thought the best choice would be someone who looked strong and impressive. God stopped him and said, “People look at the outside, but I look at the heart.”
• God values things like kindness, honesty, and humility.
• Instead of trying to impress others, we should focus on having a heart that pleases God.

Pray:

Pray about your response to this verse:

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Psalm 51:10 KJV

“Dear God, strip away my need to impress. Search my heart and reveal what’s hidden. Create in me a clean heart, one that reflects your love, truth, and grace. I want to be real before you.”

Our hearts determine the direction of our lives.

God can help us change our hearts, not just our actions.

Also, I will teach you to respect me completely, and I will put a new way of thinking inside you. I will take out the stubborn hearts of stone from your bodies, and I will give you obedient hearts of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:26 NCV

The sacrifice God wants is a broken spirit. God, you will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for sin.

Psalm 51:17 NCV

I will make them want to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, because they will return to me with their whole hearts.

Jeremiah 24:7 NCV

Do not be shaped by this world; instead be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.

Romans 12:2 NCV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

Truth bomb:

A changed heart is what leads to changed choices.

• God doesn’t want behavior tweaks. He wants heart transformation.
• Heart change starts with our mindset. It means letting God’s Word change the way we think, not just the way we act.
• God loves it when we give him our whole hearts. That’s where he does his best work.

Final thought

God can change our hearts

What’s in our hearts matters more to God than what we look like on the outside. We need to know and express our thoughts so that God can help us change our hearts to be soft, healed, and connected to him.

Bring the inspiration with you

Save this phone wallpaper to remind you to be honest today!