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The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis
The Sixth Chapter
THE JOY OF A GOOD CONSCIENCE
THE glory of a good man is the testimony of a good conscience. Therefore, keep
your conscience good and you will always enjoy happiness, for a good conscience
can bear a great deal and can bring joy even in the midst of adversity. But an
evil conscience is ever restive and fearful.
Sweet shall be your rest if your heart does not reproach you.
Do not rejoice unless you have done well. Sinners never experience true interior
joy or peace, for "there is no peace to the wicked," says the Lord.[10] Even if
they say: "We are at peace, no evil shall befall us and no one dares to hurt
us," do not believe them; for the wrath of God will arise quickly, and their
deeds will be brought to naught and their thoughts will perish.
To glory in adversity is not hard for the man who loves, for this is to glory in
the cross of the Lord. But the glory given or received of men is short lived,
and the glory of the world is ever companioned by sorrow. The glory of the good,
however, is in their conscience and not in the lips of men, for the joy of the
just is from God and in God, and their gladness is founded on truth.
The man who longs for the true, eternal glory does not care for that of time;
and he who seeks passing fame or does not in his heart despise it, undoubtedly
cares little for the glory of heaven.
He who minds neither praise nor blame possesses great peace of heart and, if his
conscience is good, he will easily be contented and at peace.
Praise adds nothing to your holiness, nor does blame take anything from it. You
are what you are, and you cannot be said to be better than you are in God's
sight. If you consider well what you are within, you will not care what men say
about you. They look to appearances but God looks to the heart. They consider
the deed but God weighs the motive.
It is characteristic of a humble soul always to do good and to think little of
itself. It is a mark of great purity and deep faith to look for no consolation
in created things. The man who desires no justification from without has clearly
entrusted himself to God: "For not he who commendeth himself is approved," says
St. Paul, "but he whom God commendeth."[11]
To walk with God interiorly, to be free from any external affection -- this is
the state of the inward man.
