1. My soul is like an iceberg; I only see and know a small part of it.

(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.)

HOW MUCH OF THE TOTAL OF WHAT COULD BE KNOWN ABOUT YOU DO YOU THINK YOU KNOW?

WHAT IS SOMETHING NEW YOU HAVE LEARNED ABOUT YOUR INNER SELF, YOUR CHARACTER, YOUR TENDENCIES, YOUR FEARS OR DESIRES, IN THE PAST YEAR? MONTH? WEEK?

When God created humans, He provided us with a variety of ways to notice our surroundings and bodies. We have the five senses of sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. We have mirrors, and now cameras, that provide us with feedback about how we look and move. But there is more to our lives than our bodies, appearance, and environment. This information is important, but it is not our essence.

Like the props on a theater set, our senses and environment create the background for the story of our lives. It is our inner life—our memories, desires, deep states of being, character, relationships, and spiritual life--that are most important in the end. However, this dimension of our lives is invisible; it cannot be noticed through our senses, in a mirror, or through a picture. It is difficult to discover. Psalm 19:12 says, Who can discern their own errors, forgive my hidden faults. (NIV).

Not surprisingly, we naturally give our primary attention to the tangible. As we do this, we often ignore the interior dimension of our life. We need different senses and tools to become aware of our interior life. Noticing our interior life is difficult work. It lacks the clarity of the material world. It is rarely black and white, often cannot be verified, and is not noticeable by others; they cannot tell us what we think or feel, and so our tendency is to ignore our interior life. Sad as it is, many if not most, people live oblivious to the richness of their interior. Like the setting in a play, the props are not the main thing and if one were to only notice the elaborate backdrops without observing the story being played out, so much would be missed. But this is often true in our human existence.

We give so much attention to the setting of our lives and miss out on the story we are living. The philosopher Socrates is quoted as saying, An unexamined life is not worth living. There is so much more to our lives than what we can observe with our senses--infinitely more. Without desire, effort, and training this most valuable aspect to our lives remains hidden to us. The journey of growing self-awareness is not easy, but the rewards will always be worth the effort.