Don't Judge by Appearance

Keys for Kids Daily Devotional for December 6, 2007
TITLE: The Best Banana
SCRIPTURE: Romans 14:10-13
AUDIO: listen here
THE STORY FOR TODAY:
"I wish Renee would dress nicer-she always looks messy," said Tara when she saw the girl who lived next door out in her yard. "She's way overweight, too!"
Mom frowned, but to Tara's surprise, she didn't scold her for criticizing Renee. After a moment, Mom just said, "I want you to try some bananas."
"Bananas?" asked Tara. "How come?"
"I was talking today with Maria Sutton-she's a missionary to Panama, you know," replied Mom. "She told me they have four kinds of bananas in Panama. There are crinkly red ones, small yellowish ones with big brown blotches, tiny green ones, and the kind we buy at the grocery store. I thought it would be fun to try them all, so she took me to a store where we could buy all four kinds, and I got some of each."
"Did you try them?" asked Tara, becoming interested. "Are they good?"
Mom went to the cupboard and took four bananas from a basket. Tara pointed at the red one. "That one's pretty! Can I try it?" she asked. Mom agreed, so Tara peeled it and popped a good-sized piece into her mouth. She made a face. "That's bad enough to choke a cow!" she sputtered.
Mom laughed. "Try the yellow, blotchy one."
Tara shook her head. "No, it looks even worse," she said. "I'll try . . . this one." She picked up a small green banana. "It's nothing special," Tara decided after tasting it, "but at least it's not as bad as the red one."
"Why not try the yellow and brown one?" urged Mom again.
Tara hesitated. "Well, all right," she agreed, "but it looks so horrible." Wrinkling up her nose, she peeled the banana and tasted a tiny piece. "Um-m-m! It's good!" she exclaimed, and she finished the whole thing. "Let's get more of those," said Tara. "They look so bad, but they taste so good!"
Mom nodded. "Appearance isn't so important, is it?" she asked. "It's the inside that counts. That's a principle we find in God's Word, and I hope you'll remember it when you look at Renee. She may need help with choosing clothes and finding a good diet, but from what I've seen of her, I'd say she's really a sweet girl. If that's correct, you should value her as a friend."
MEMORY VERSE: Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment. John 7:24
HOW ABOUT YOU? Do you judge others by the way they look? Think hard now! Is there someone you've judged that way? God says beauty is passing (Proverbs 31:30). Outer beauty doesn't last, so it's really not important. Don't decide if you want kids as friends because of their size or height, their stylish clothing, the color of their skin or hair, or by whether they're good looking. Learn what kind of people they are and what kinds of things they value. Remember God's warning against judging by appearance.
THE KEY: Don't judge by appearance