Now it is time to take off your mask. This means being completely honest with yourself. Not only do you need to be honest with yourself, you must also be honest with God. Being honest with God encompasses telling Him what is in your heart. And this does not mean telling Him all of the superficial stuff that you think you are supposed to say. This means telling Him how you really feel. And here's the thing--He already knows the pain is there, He just wants to help you heal from it. But He can't help you unless you open up to your true self. While we all have a rose-colored mirror that we use daily to evaluate ourselves, we must use the true-colored mirror when we are soul-searching within our

Healing begins when you desire to be made whole. Your desire for wholeness must exceed your pride, in order for it to be effective. This is because healing requires exposure to your wounds, and that requires you to be completely open and honest with yourself. You must put aside all aspects of grandeur about yourself and look at your true person. Both good and bad aspects of who you are must be dissected. I must warn you that this will not feel good, and it shouldn't. The goal, though, is to uncover the why's behind your choices. This is necessary in order to identify our role, if there is one, in how we were hurt. While some wounds occur solely because of another person's actions, there are

How do we not let the pain overcome us? By being aware of our wounds and by actively seeking our healing. Sounds simple enough, right? There's more to it than that, but that is the beginning. There is a process to it. Sometimes a very hard process, but nonetheless, it is a process. The process of healing takes us through a journey of examining our feelings and emotions. We face, head on, all of the things that have shaped us into who we are. We get to search ourselves and reflect on the motives behind some of our crucial decisions. The purpose of this reflection is not to give negative attention to our wound. The purpose of this reflection is to search within ourselves to ensure we have forg

Consciously choosing pain over deliverance hinders you from living a full life. Choosing deliverance seems like an easy choice, but our inner struggles cause conflict that makes the choice seem harder than it is. The struggles from within our heart and mind can cause us to focus on the pain instead of the healing. After we are wounded, it is natural to give the wound attention. The wound needs attention. At some point, after we nurse our pain, we must refocus our attention from the wound to the healing. When we change our focus, the healing begins.

Managing pain, in some form or fashion, is a part of everyday life. How you manage it can determine your outlook on life and how open you are to living it to its fullest. Living life to its fullest means you don't let the pain you've lived through overcome you. Focusing on pain can cause you to feel bitter and distract you from appreciating all of the little things in life that bring you pleasure. Painful memories are sometimes the source of mistrust of others who don't deserve to be mistrusted. If we are reminded of a painful moment, in the midst of a new situation, we immediately react defensively. This reaction is natural for us. In order for us to move forward in our lives, we must be he