People See Your Physical Appearance
I will begin this devotional with a confession. Sometimes, I struggle with what people think about my physical appearance. The most obvious reason is that I do not have hair due to alopecia. I sometimes look at people with a full head of hair and wonder what that must be like. I do not struggle much with physical appearance, but it is still an issue.
Many people have something wrong with their physical appearance, some more noticeable than others. As someone who works in youth ministry in the church and the inner cities, I see many students struggle with their physical appearance. I hear students worry if they are pretty, overweight, or attractive enough to be accepted.
One of the first ways people see you is based on your appearance. They may notice the shirt you have on or the makeup on your face. In her conversation with Jesus, the woman at the well wondered how Jesus, a Jew, could talk to her, a Samaritan. John 4:9 says, "The Samaritan woman said to him, 'You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?' (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
In that question, the woman noted two things about her appearance. She identified herself as "a Samaritan woman." During this period, Jews and Samaritans did not get along. They would not share utensils because the Jews saw the Samaritans as unclean. Also, we will learn later that people judged her because she was a woman with a troubled past.
The Bible tells us that "man looks at the physical appearance, but God looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). I have learned to trust God with this verse. My identity is not found in how I look because God cares about my heart more than my appearance. Your identity is not in your clothes or how you look compared to others. When your faith is in Jesus, your first identity is a child of God.
When you are tempted to find your identity in your appearance, remember how Jesus interacted with the woman at the well. She identified herself as a "Samaritan woman." She questioned why Jesus, a Jew, would talk to her. But what we can learn is Jesus identifies us beyond our physical appearance. He identifies us as His children.