Choosing What We Need from Within

     Choosing what we need from within is being spiritual complete in every situation. Imagine we have a beautiful fruit tree within our mind and each piece of fruit represents an emotion. One piece of fruit might represent joy and another love, there is one for peace and another for happiness. We could continue and say there is one for thankfulness and one for forgiveness and all we have to do is to reach out and take one if we are in need.
     Choosing what we need from within is reaching for some happiness when we are sad. When our mind is troubled we will reach for the fruit of peace. If we have hate or guilt then we could use some to forgive and to forgive ourselves. 2 Timothy 1:7 "for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." Through God's spirit within us, we have what we need to have strength, peace of mind, love, and self-control. All we have to do is to put our mind, our thoughts and our prayers towards that to which we want. We have to make the effort ourselves and not to wait on others for our answers.
      You need to think about these questions. If you are alone who will forgive you? How will you find your love? Where will your joy come from? Can you be happy all by yourself?  The answer is you can forgive yourself, you can find love within yourself and have joy and happiness. You do not have to depend on others to give you what you need. All these things are within your reach just put your mind to them and choose them. God has given you what you need.
     God's word has instructed us to change the way we think. Ephesians 4:22-24 "to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, ²³and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." If we place our trust in God and do his will our lives will change for the better. By listening to his words and doing them, our thinking will be lifted up to a higher place.
     We need a better way to live our lives and the Bible gives us God's wisdom to do just that. The Bible has inspirational stories to lift up our spirits. In today's world, there is much negativity. Sometimes we do not have any uplifting events or stories to tell. We even have a hard time to think in a positive way. This is where reading the Bible will give us a different outlook on life. We can read about how Jesus and the apostles endure a difficult life and how they cope with it. We can pattern our lives after them and find our hope within this negative world.
     Philippians 4:8,9 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me--practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."