If you ever feel like you’re being manipulated, take note of your God given ability to “think for yourself,” as a reflection of the Mind of God that “thinks for itself.”
Personal manipulation comes in many different forms, often very subtle ones, that can be hard to detect at times. Coercion, bribery, intimidation, persistent suggestion, flattery, threats, and more, are a few forms. But whatever form it takes we have power to unveil it, see it for the lie it is, and not consent.
Mary Baker Eddy writes, “Evil thoughts and aims reach no farther and do no more harm than one’s belief permits” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 234). We are never helpless. We have God-given power to think right and to act right.
Hate, selfishness, greed, lust, envy, jealousy, are powerless to persuade the clear spiritual thinker of Truth.
Stand up for your rights, your God-given rights to think and act rightly.
Resist manipulation, conquer it, and let moral and spiritual law guide your decision-making. The outcome is much better!
This message is so powerful, appropriate, and to the point. Personal sense would manipulate both in our churches and in our personal lives.
Spiritual sense is our remedy.
What strength we find in this passage in the lesson from Job: “The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” Job 33:4
Thank you very much John; it’s so perfectly right what you say – it couldn’t be more correct!! 🙂
“Your defense against manipulation” by Jan Vincent Keeler from the
March 15, 2021 Christian Science Sentinel:
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/1lstay52lv8?s=copylink
Excellent article…thank you J!
Thank you John Q. for your contribution – the passage you quote from Job is one of
my favourites for all sorts of things. And yes, we need to be so alert that a false personal sense does not manipulate us or our churches. We must let God
govern and trust that He is always doing so.
And thank you J. for the excellent article on
this this subject. We have spiritual weapons to protect
us as we keep a watch on our thoughts and keep them filled
with spiritual reality.
This beautifully inspired SpiritView is just what God ordered for me today, Evan. Thank you ever so much. It is so important to let divine Love influence us in our decision making and to be alert to the wiles of mortal mind be they ego driven through flattery, etc., that would lead us down a wrong path through mental doors we haven’t yet closed. Many, many thanks for this inspiration.
Love it all….thank you Evan and everyone
“Know, then, that you have sovereign power to think and act rightly, and nothing can dispossess you of this heritage and trespass on Love.”
Pulpit and Press page 3
(The entire Dedicatory Sermon, Pulpit and Press pgs 1- 11 is extraordinary.)
Love this Joyce, thanks! Good to be reminded of the power and heritage we have from God.
Thank you for these powerful declarations of what is true about ourselves as
representatives of God’s light and Love. Sometimes we inadvertently manipulate
our Own thinking into believing something is or isn’t true. We blurt out thoughts
that may be hurtful to others, but not intentionally..
mortal’s way of thinking seems to get the best of us sometimes and we cry out
mentally or through words, to be heard, Knowing what we are saying isn’t True
in the spiritual realm, but may seem comforting at the time. We need to and
eventually do … get our thoughts in the right place as we turn to the Truth of
God’s being and we, as reflections – harmonize in thought again – where divine
Love brings in tune our innate goodness that has always been present, but at
times, may Seem not to be.
Wow! I needed this! I began reading this thinking, “well, I’m never manipulated“ Ha! How often I have made concessions in the name of being conciliatory.
I believe that I always think for myself, and yet the subtle suggestions of illnesses or unhappy circumstances creep in sometimes, where they lodge in my undefended thinking. Here we go again.
We are cautioned in Christian Science to keep our thought defended, strong, alert, to let God‘s Mind be us as it was in Christ Jesus.
The article which J shared is really powerful. I’m dealing with a situation now to which many people are offering their opinions, suggestions, and ideas on how to correct this situation. Yet “God provides the ideas, avenues, means, methods… God brings together the skills, supplies, energy,… Trust God‘s orchestrating and harmonizing of His idea.“
Today’s SpiritView is filled with inspiration.
As always, I thank Evan and this beautiful community for your loving, consecrated care.
Thanks Annie. I like the quote you mentioned that begins, “God provides the ideas, avenues, means, methods….”. What is that from?
Also was thinking about what you said about making concessions in order to be conciliatory. I do that too. Sometimes though I have to, as they say, “choose my battles.” We can go in the opposite direction, out of a fear of being controlled, and become too humanly willful in wanting to have our “own way.” Sometimes I have to think, “how important is it” in the name of peace.. Depends on the severity of the situation and requires prayer to discern. The Mind of God knows.
POW! Bam! Hits home —so powerful Evan! Thank you Evan and other readers!
Wonderful discussion about guarding against manipulation. Thank you Evan. It can be a tricky thing, and subtle, as you said. Requires some pondering. I see error/mortal mind suggestions trying to tug at my thought and manipulate me every day. They appear in many guises: the media, politicians, marketers selling products, people in our personal or work lives, so-called material situations and circumstances. Important to take a step back from all the noise and recognize what is going on, what beliefs we are susceptible or subject to and which are actually impossible for us to believe as God’s expressions.
I liked where you called us “clear spiritual thinkers of Truth.” Yes that is what we are and I can declare that and be grateful for it as I let God guide me.
Thank you for the reminders you have mentioned, Rose, about the many guises
mortal thinking can suggest to us through manipulation. Pundits try to manipulate
us into thinking their way and there are so many covert ways in which mortal
mind tries to persuade us to do anything, but think for ourself. Even subliminal
messages can Try to catch us off guard. Persistent advertisements, to me,
although not at all attempting, can be an annoyance and it would be nice to do
without. It seems they are everywhere. Most every intended sale is an attempt
to manipulate us into believing we – Need – something… to look younger, to
weigh less, to be without this/that ailment by taking this or that material solution.
A joke about (and older folks can relate) … a salesman who went to a house to sell
encyclopedias. The homeowner, after the manipulation spiel of Why they
absolutely Needed this product, said assertively, “I don’t have children and my
spouse ‘knows it all'”. : ) We are like the person who knows it all – if it is spiritual
Truth, which we are all included in our knowledge of, whether we are aware of it
or not. The important part is to open our thoughts to directing Mind, which doesn’t
manipulate, but guides us gently through Life. That is a know-it- all we all can
appreciate.