Looks or actions.

1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV)

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

This is a reminder that God does not see things the way we do. While we look at the outward appearance of people, God examines the hearts of people.

Although we like to believe that beauty runs only skin deep, research shows that it pays to be good-looking. A 2010 survey by Newsweek concluded, "In all elements of the workplace, from hiring to politics to promotions … looks matter, and they matter hard." The research provided the following results:

Favoritism Happens: 57 percent of hiring managers believe an unattractive (but qualified) job candidate will have a harder time getting hired.

Favoritism Continues: 68 percent of hiring managers believe that, once hired, looks will affect the way managers rate an employee's job performance.

Your Looks Matter More Than Your Resume: 59 percent of hiring managers advised spending as much time and money "making sure they look attractive" as on perfecting a resume.

It's Worse for Women: 61 percent of hiring managers (and 60 percent of them were men) said that women would benefit from wearing clothes that show off their figure.

We Judge Overweight People: Although 75 percent of Americans are overweight, about 66 percent of managers said they thought some managers would hesitate before hiring someone who is significantly overweight.

We Also Judge Old People: 84 percent of managers said their bosses would hesitate before hiring a qualified candidate who looked much older than his or her co-workers.

We Think Favoritism Based on Looks Is OK: 64 percent of hiring managers said they believe companies should be allowed to hire people based on looks.

How do you judge the character of a person, by their looks or by their actions? Actions are lasting, but beauty is fleeting.