Series: The Things We Say - God Don’t Like Ugly - Martin Wiles

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself. 1Corinthians 6:19 NLT

Hearing about ugly episodes is a regular part of any day, but God don’t like ugly.

The early settlers along the James River—in what would become the United States of America—had some ugly in them, although they were responsible for the founding of one of the greatest nations in the world. Although the Native Americans helped them survive, the settlers fought with them and eventually pushed them from their land. Soon, slavery made its ugly entrance into the young colonies. Africans were imported by the millions and crowded in squalid conditions on ships where many died before they ever reached the colonies. As the colonies grew into a country and westward expansion occurred, slavery increased, and so did the mistreatment of other Native Americans.

Ugly didn’t cease once America was finalized with fifty states. Nor is it confined to America. I listen to ugly every day when I hear about murders, rapes, terrorist acts, natural disasters, shootings, and other acts of unkindness. I sometimes wonder where the pretty is.

Since our bodies are temples of God’s Spirit, they should be pretty places. I’ve never considered myself handsome. I can’t remember girls pining to date me when I was in high school. I had somewhat of an ugly complex. But regardless of how I appear on the outside, my inside can be handsome.

Sin makes us ugly. It’s easy to make light of sin by redefining it, calling it something else, or making it appear less tragic than it is. No matter what we do with it, God still sees it as ugly. Sin is behind the ugly we hear about and see each day. The absence of sin would result in the annihilation of all that’s bad in our world.

The only way we can keep our temples clean is to accept God’s solution for ugly: forgiveness. If ugly will separate us eternally from God, then we better fix it. Accepting what Christ has done on Calvary’s cross allows his righteousness to be credited to our account. Then we’re not ugly in God’s sight anymore. With the help of God’s Spirit indwelling us, our pretty inside will manifest itself outwardly in kind words and admirable actions, making the world a better place.

Let God transform your ugly to beauty.

Father, thank you for the beautiful new nature you offer us through Jesus Christ.

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