To live healthy and happy it’s important that we take enough time out for study and prayer to keep our spiritual mindedness thriving. It’s part of loving ourselves as a child of God.
For instance, most people, while getting ready for a new day, will show love and care for themselves by getting their body cleaned up, brushing their hair, and putting on clothes that are fitting for the occasion ahead of them. The love and care they show for themselves, will be noticed and appreciated by others all day long, and they will feel better about themselves for the time they took to be prepared.
The same rule applies to keeping our thought in a good place. It is not okay to go out into the world with a grumpy attitude, a negative outlook or a darkened sense. These evil states of thought are like getting up in the morning with a stinky body. They need to be addressed, eliminated and replaced with inspired spiritual thinking that enables one to glow with love, express buoyancy, joy and gratitude all day long for all the good God is doing for them and others.
To keep our thought in a good place takes effort and commitment, just like the effort needed to keep your body clean and properly clothed. Success requires some time out of our regular schedule to do the job well. It’s part of loving yourself so that you can enjoy the best life has to offer.
Love yourself today! Accept that you can take time out to listen, pray and feel close to God. It’s the most important part of getting your day started right.
You’ll be much happier for it, and so will others around you.
The most difficult challenge I have is to love myself . Prayer has not done it as most of the time I feel like a irrevocable mistake. I know on an intellectual level it can’t be true but so far I’ve haven’t been able to ever feel any love for myself.
Lynn, you’ve come to the right place.
Lynn,
I think that is a common struggle. Sometimes it is easy to focus on the things one perceives to have done wrong or that we perceive others are telling us are wrong about ourselves. But, we are here because God has a purpose for us and that makes us very special! And, it doesn’t really matter what is thought by others or ourselves if it isn’t truth – only what God thinks. Much love to you sister!
We don’t have to be all good. God has that job. Even Jesus said call no one good but God.
Sometimes we confuse goodness with human perfection. Mortal mind pegs us all with limitations of some sort. These limitations will always try to take center stage. And the only power they have over us is the power that we give them.
I find that when I stop focusing on myself and my goodness (or seeming lack thereof) and instead focus on God and His goodness, I begin to look for all of the good God is able to pour out to me and all, instead of ruminating on the limitations. The side effects of this refocusing is usually limitations falling away “for lack of air.”
To paraphrase MBE: Self hate needs no temporary indulgence that it be destroyed through suffering; but should be stifled from lack of air and freedom. (See Mis. 356:6)
Mortal mind tries all sorts of tricks to get us to worship it instead of worship divine Love. Mortal mind uses lots of drama and fear to win us over to its side. We should treat mortal mind like we would a two year old having a tantrum. The more we respond to the tantrum the more we teach the two year old that tantrums work. We need to walk away from mortal mind towards the divine Mind (the mature Mind) and give mortal mind “alone time” until it can come out and play nicely!
Lynn, we are all in the same boat! Welcome to the club! Lol! The good news is that we have the right tools and opportunities to overcome the limited thinking that bullies us. This is the cross that blesses us with a lovely crown. Blessings to you on this spiritual adventure! Go get those blessings God has in store. Go girl!
Lynn, you are the perfect child of God. That’s how I know you, for you and I and all of God’s children are siblings, brothers and sisters in Truth. The mortal labels that seem to somehow get stuck on us day by day, we just do as Evan mentioned, wash off every morning and sometimes during the day as needed. They do NOT belong to you, you are the perfect child of God, my sister!!
Dear Lynn
Let us help you feel loved today. We can all hold hands, no matter the distance. We can lift each other up because we are the love of our God, It’s why we are here. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to be who God made us to be, and for you to feel like the cherished child you are!
And, dear Lynn, those are not your thoughts. They have no power at all and you have every right to show them the door!
We are fed by Thy Love divine by expressing God’s Love and Be-ing His love = you cannot get closer to God if you tried. This is why ” … this seeming vacuum is already filled with divine Love.” S&H 266:8 Love is the imperative, it requires you to be it, to express it. Lynn you are truly “lovable” because you are able to express God’s Love. “Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it.” S&H 57:18 I love you simply because you are the expression of God’s Love … you never were anything else. Thank you dear Evan for this Platform of Love. 🙂
I so agree with you Evan, that if we start the day by putting God first, giving time to prayer and study, we equip ourself spiritually to face the day with grace and poise. The kingdom of God is within us. Our prayers help us to beautify our soul and brighten our life with peace, harmony, health, joy and strength.
Dressing up for the day also is important, but incomplete without the Spiritual preparation. Because to be truly happy through out the day, we need to give time to prayers and beautify our inner true self.
I am so glad you got so much support. Please try listening to the CS lecture on you tube by Ginny Luederman “from rock star to healer”. She speaks of someone covering her mirror with mud and her, with truth it was cleared off. You are love itself.
Evan, your post today reminded me that my Christian Science teacher read “You Are Special” by Max Lucardo at one of our Association meetings. It is a children’s book with a wonderful message about not labelling people.
“Every day the small wooden people called Wemmicks do the same thing: stick either gold stars or grey dots onto one another. The pretty ones- those with smooth wood and fine paint – always get stars. The talented ones too. Others, though, who can do little or who have chipped paint, get ugly grey dots. Like Punchinello. In this heart warming tale from best-selling author Max Lucardo, Eli the woodcarver helps Punchinello understand how special he is – no matter what other Wemmicks may think. It’s a vital message for children everywhere: regardless of how the world evaluates them , God cherishes each of them, just as they are.”
I find it a great reminder to check in with God each morning as soon as I open my eyes, it gets my day off to a good start!
Thank you for your wonderful daily blogs!
Who is your teacher? Love this idea! Thanks for sharing the book title!
What love on this wonderful site! Really, the love shared here is so heartwarming and heartfelt, and it brings joy to read such helpful thoughts and caring for each other. Lynn, you definitely Are loved, although I know, loving oneself can be a challenge. Love to all and thank you, Evan, for bringing this topic to light.
By clothing our thought with love, with Godlike qualities, our view of Spirit grows brighter and stronger. I thank you, Evan.
Lynn…there are times when im feeling “un-truths”.too.. But. I am willing,like you..to receive another message and view about myself..God is always speaking to us…maybe through these wonderful new friends on Evans blog or you’ll hear beautiful music that
brings you happiness or nature or a hug..there Will be a ” sign” created just for YOU..for your heart..I share this prayer with you that I often say to my grandchildren…’No matter where you are ..there is no spot where God/Love is not” ..God/Love is ALL..blessings and hugs
What a blessing— to you, our dear Lynn, and to each one who gave love to Lynn and the group- in caring enough to convey love – Love IS reflected in love. EVERYONE needs to be loved truly, loved as our Parent, our Mommy-Daddy-Love, loves us. In His/Her eyes, we are WONDERFUL ☀️
Some of us are so blessed to have been raised in a loving family. My mother always taught me , I’m God’s perfect child & my maternal aunt lived to be 99 years young & said, Love, Love, Love To count each & every blessing is powerful prayer & makes me feel close to divine Mind. God never made mistakes, How we choose to SEE is ours to demonstrate…
Much love to all—-let’s start with God & stay with God all day & always…
We cannot open the door (of our precipus mind-our real address) to just any random thought – just as we would not open our front door to anyone!
We must guard and protect our thoughts and put off the “old” ones or “wrong/naughty” ones in order to clearly hear divine Mind/Love’s messages to us. Thus is daily work but well worth the effort!
I am finding out that daily prayer for oneself is more than just reading the Bible lesson although that is also indispensable to my growth and inspiration, But is actual specific affirmations of Truth about myself and denials of the lies or errors that seem to be clamoring for my attention, there is a pamphlet called” Pray Daily for Oneself “ that really woke me up to this. In my prayers I quiet fear and insecurity by acknowledging Gods allness and everpresent love. I acknowledge that I reflect wisdom to make the right choices and the understanding that I need for every task. I claim perfect health is my divine right as a child of God and that I inherit only good from my Father/ Mother God. I claim that I am the image of Love and can only express love to others and that criticism and hate is no part of my being. Then I move on the include my family and community and world in this all embracing Love of God. What a difference it has made in identifying myself and others correctly and loving myself more. I think the key is to specifically counter the errors that say your unworthy or unable or weak with the divine facts! You are worthy, you are strong, you are lovable and are very needed to shine your unique light on the world!
Thank you for these very clear, specific instructions on how to start each day mentally. Our clean, truth filled thoughts, without self-condemnation, blame etc. do have an impact on receptive thought throughout the world. Not only do we help and heal ourselves by recognising and rejecting the lies that would claim to be our own thoughts, but we bless our families and communities too. Marvellous mental engineering from our Father-Mother-Designer-God who loves us all whether we know it yet or not
There is a poem posted on JSH Online which addresses beautifully this ned to love ourselves. It is called
“AS THYSELF”
By Sandra Luerssen Hoerner
From the August 1968 issue of The Christian Science Journal
It is a bit too long I think to post here, but maybe someone can show everyone the way to access it for this post.
Here it is Maggie.
“AS THYSELF”
By Sandra Luerssen Hoerner
Click here to view:’ https://journal.christianscience.com/shared/view/1msjpihm4po?s=e
Thank you, Karen.
For most of my life I never liked myself. I had very low self-esteem. One day I was thinking about a friend I admire and all the wonderful attributes she expresses which are kindness, gentleness, caring, helpful as well as many others. It occurred to me right at that moment that those are the very qualities that define me. I’m kind, helpful, caring, gentle. Since I admired my friend for those qualities, why shouldn’t I love myself since I express the very same ones? That broke the mesmerism that I wasn’t “good enough” and freed me to have confidence and love myself. This was a life-changing healing.
Thank you you have to know these qualities you already have before you can recognise them reflected all around you and see these qualities expressed through others back to you, make sense right? We see others through our own conscious awareness and be-ing aware of good, loved, cared for is a tangible evidence to ourself that we are living and having our be-ing in the Consciousness Of Good [God]. Everyone exist, participate and have a place/role in this Universal Consciousness of Good[God] /One Divine Mind; intelligence and harmony is predominant in action everywhere, every time and everything. Self affirming that each of us are inseparable from God’s Love will produce the effect of peace, confidence, comfort and happiness that we can perceive humanly eventhough it may not seem so before but after affirmations or reminding oneself of the Truth the human scene will reflect good exactly as needed to normalise harmony to any situation. Good action always follow good thought, like produces like, fill our mind with thoughts/spiritual ideas of Truth, Life and Love and listen to the angel thoughts standing by our side to bless us instantly anytime and anywhere. This itself is truly loving our neighbour as ourself living in the atmosphere and pleasure of Love.
Here’s an opportunity, I thought, to love my son, who had learned about a job in another city. My son told his father that he was traveling to his new job, yesterday, Wednesday. So we wanted to celebrate an anniversary, since he was out of town, on his way to begin a new job. We booked a reservation, a couple of hours away at our favorite place. Today, Thursday, his sister announced that he hadn’t left, but was needing to be cared for. He may have been feeling disappointment because of this change in his plans. So I cancelled our reservation, to stay in town, praying and knowing God has bestowed me with His Love . I can hardly wait to see what God has in store with His love for us ALL. Listening for His voice, and loving each one of His reflections keeps me buoyant and expectant for all the good there ever can be.
Prayer is powerful- but it’s easy to forget to listen to God.
“Love yourself today! Accept that you can take time out to listen, pray and feel close to God. It`s the most important part of getting your day started right”. Thank you very much Evan for this so utmost important reminder for our real wellbeing in God, Spirit, Love, Mind!