What is seen isn’t nearly as important as what is unseen.
Like so many things in life, we live it backward.
Humans in general care more about their external body and physical accomplishments than the things that can’t be measured. Satan tries his utmost to keep us focused on the outside; what others see, what others think about us.
It’s true, as people we are most often measured by our fellow humans through what is tangible:
the numbers in a bank account, titles and degrees behind a name, one’s extraordinary physical achievements.
The number of likes on a post or followers of a social account.
The vehicle we drive or the place we reside.
Effectiveness or size of ministry – these external things are often the dimension by which we are measured.
But these things hold little to zero value with God.
What cannot be measured is the unseen: how much love and kindness we have given to others.
Life-giving words that have brought healing to a wounded heart.
Prayers of blessing, prayers of faith, a warrior’s prayers in the middle of a battle.
Choices made toward grace and God.
Courage in the face of fear.
Daily habits that honor God.
Healthy relationships.
Choosing forgiveness when things aren’t fair.
Faith when there is no tangible evidence.
This is the unseen. This is what really matters. And this is the dimension by which we will be measured in the end.
Our physical body is perishing. One day it will be gone. And with it, all these external, tangible accomplishments.
Our spirit is eternal, yet we pay little attention to its health and sometimes even its existence.
Jesus says:
Life is more than food and the body more than clothes… instead of being consumed with these things, seek first the kingdom of God and all this will be added to you.
Luke 12:23, 31
Affix your eyes on what is unseen; for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:18