No need to put yourself down

There are many people among us who yearn to use their talents more widely.  But they lack what it takes needed to do this. 

Take a friend of mine who paints.  Jean Anne loves art, paints well (in my non-artist view), and would dearly love to show her work somewhere.  She actually calls her paintings her "babies" (which those of us who write or paint or sculpt or do something else creative can appreciate).  Alas, as she said to me yesterday, "I'm afraid to take the steps I should.  Just don't have much self-confidence."

We talked for a long while, and I found myself sharing some spiritual truths with her, things I've learned from my study of Christian Science.  Perhaps some of the following will be of help to you as well.  Your own life may need to be much more rewarding than it now is.

I firmly believe that every last one of us has talents he or she could be developing and expressing.  What can a person do to bring latent abilities to light?  One can gain a deeper understanding of man's true naure as the child of God.

In First John in the Bible is this powerful statement:  "Beloved, now are we the sons of God" (3:2).  You and I are God's very likeness, His spiritual offspring.  And since we were formed by God for the purpose of showing forth His nature, we all have an essential role to play in God's plan.

Just how much we mean to our heavenly Father was clear to our Master, Christ Jesus.  He said, "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?  and one of them shall not fall on the ground without our Father...Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows" (Matthew 10:29, 31).

Created for the purpose of expressing God, you and I (and everyone else) are not only valuable, we are absolutely indispensable.  In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes:  "If God, who is Life, were parted for a moment from His reflection, man during that moment there would be no divinity reflected.  The Ego would be unexpressed, and the Father would be childless, -- no Father" (p. 306).

With God's help, any person can discover what he or she is truly worth.  We can wake up to the divine facts that God, divine Mind, is forever expressing Himself in His offspring and that we therefore already include all we possibly could need for our usefulness and satisfaction.  Understanding this about ourselves, we'll see more of the God-bestowed abilities that always have belonged to us come to light.  And the happy result will be a richer, fuller life expressing God.

Let me repeat.  Our reason for existing is to reflect God, to put to use the spiritual qualities that compose our true nature.  And since those qualities are spiritual, they are unlimited and constantly available to us.  Gaining more of the dynamic knowledge Jesus had of man as the complete, loved, valuable child of God will remove inactivity, mediocrity, frustration, from our lives.  It will clear the way for a more effective use of the talents and everpresent possibilities each of us has as God's child.