Wrinkles?  Who me?  It started out innocent enough with crow’s feet – which to me are just evidence of a well-laughed life. Think about it. Those beauties are most evident when we smile or laugh; nothing to be ashamed of.  In fact, I think crow’s feet should be touted as a badge of honor; of course that’s just me as I highly value laughter. 

The innocence of crows’ feet, however, eventually was lost as the furrow lines in the forehead appeared.  Well, furrow ridges would probably be more accurate – they seem to be a regular companion.  What attitude or emotion do they betray?  I’m not sure so I practiced a few to write this VICTORY CALL: Concentration; observation, disapproval, disagreement, perhaps a critical spirit.  Any or all of those things can be read in the furrow ridges etched in a forehead. 

Ah, but the greatest tattletale of all are the frown lines engraved at the edges of a chin – jeering at the discontented, dissatisfied heart that lies within.  I can’t think of another reason a person would have frown lines than from the repeated practice of frowning. 

Why am I regaling about wrinkles this morning?  A person’s face tells a lot about a person’s life.  Wrinkles appear with a lot of practice. Some wrinkles are actually beautiful while others – not so much.  Our face betrays us.  Emotion is often written all over our faces. The issue isn’t our faces; they are just a barometer of emotion.  No, the issue is our heart – “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23).  “A glad heart makes a cheerful face…” (Proverbs 15:13).

What emotion or attitude or reaction have we practiced so much that our face remembers it and can’t seem to let it go?  What does your face betray about your heart? 

For most of us there will come a time when our outer beauty will fade and our inner beauty will need to step up.  “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor 4:16).  “…let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (1 Peter 3:4).  “A (wo)man’s wisdom makes (her) face shine, and the hardness of (her) face is changed” ( Ecc 8:1). A beautiful inner spirit is far better and cheaper than a facelift. 

Blessings,
Diane

Diane Hunt is part of the ministry team at America’s Keswick.  She is a regular writer for Victory Call and one of the authors of Crossing the Jordan Bible Study.  Diane has been married to her husband John over 27 years.  She has 2 adult children and 3 grandchildren and 3 adult step-children with 7 grandchildren making 10 in all.  She delights reading and teaching, but mostly laughing at the funny things her grandchildren say and do.