Look Within Yourself

20 Jul

“Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.”  ~ Marcus Aurelius

Introspection — the looking within to identify our thoughts and emotions — is an art that is lost on some people.  There are those who are afraid to look within because they fear what they might find.  Some have “stuffed” years, if not decades, of emotions deep within and they want to leave them untapped lest they crack.

If we do not look within, though, we truly can never be whole.  We must be able to identify the things that hinder us from moving forward in our lives.  We also must be able to identify the strengths that are within us, strengths that we might not realize that we had.

Take heart.  Have courage.  Look within.  Deep within.

When we first look, we might be tempted to stop because we see all the junk that we have stuffed inside ourselves.  Broken relationships, bad experiences, failed attempts.  These cause us to feel bad about ourselves and prevent us from looking deeper.  I dare say that those memories are used by the devil to keep us from looking deeper.

If we look deeper, we do not find bad, we find good.  Looking deeper gets us in touch with our very core, our soul.  That is not, can not, be bad for it is created in the image and likeness of God.  God is not darkness.  God is not bad.  God is goodness and light and He has given that goodness and light to each and every one of us.

Looking within, we will find the “fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.”  Will yourself to dig.  Trusting in God, dig deep, and find all that He has given to you.

FAITH ACTION:  Make time for silent prayer today and look within so that you might identify what has been given to you by God so that you might accomplish His will.