Allow me to briefly refer to a bad movie, if you would. After all, that’s what makes for a great devotional.

Remember Shallow Hal (2001), with Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow? Totally tacky and sheer genius. Hal, a womanizer, disregards any woman outside of the “knockout” category. That is, until a spell is cast upon him. Within the spell, women’s inner beauty – or lack thereof – manifests as outer beauty. 

Hal falls hard for a woman who, to him, looks like Gwyneth Paltrow. To the rest of the world, she’s painfully obese. Hal can’t figure out why she’s treated with such disdain; why no one can see how he’s won the jackpot. She’s unspeakably kind, physically dazzling.

What I like about an otherwise stupid movie: What if the portion others see of us misleads and distracts from our actual selves? (I personally would love to be a 5’9” blonde on the inside.)

But as a global worker, priority to my outer life is relentlessly tempting. So much to do. So many to help.

Tim Keller writes, “If we give priority to the outer life, our inner life will be dark and scary…We won’t know how to go into the inner rooms of the heart, see clearly what is there, and deal with it. In short, unless we put a priority on the inner life, we turn ourselves into hypocrites.”

Within all the needs of ministry and family—which life do we nourish?

Jesus doesn’t beckon me to a life of Velcro fruit like some bad VBS bulletin board. He challenges, “Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.” In this verse, “remain” is also translated abide. Dwell. Live. Any fruit on the field or elsewhere, He’s telling me, comes from oneness with Him. With letting His life-giving sap push through me unhindered. 

He’s tugging me back to a garden walk with Him in the cool of the day.

Henri Nouwen reminds me, “The central question is, are the leaders of the future truly men and women of God, people with an ardent desire to dwell in God’s presence, to listen to God’s voice, to look at God’s beauty, to touch God’s incarnate Word and to taste fully God’s infinite goodness?” Or does my outer self—a false one—distract me from walking authentically with him?

C’mon. Let’s be knockouts on the inside.