People will pray to God to heal them of some difficulty. But do they fulfill their part by loving as His Son did and taught others to do?
This is what our loving, heavenly Father expects of us. And what Christ Jesus makes abundantly clear in his teachings. For instance, the thirteenth chapter of John contains these words of Jesus: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."
Christly loving of our fellow beings is the basis for spiritual healing, as the life of our Master demonstrated. His healings exemplified the nature of God as tender, understanding Love, who knows what we have need of before we ask Him. Christ-healing is based on this knowledge of God and man, and faith in and understanding of divine Love constitute the healing power of all prayer in Christian Science.
While there are probably many reasons why we are sometimes less loving than we would like to be, one thing is certain, we all can express more Christly affection. They study and practice of Christian Science bring increased spiritual insights that lead to an increase in spiritual love. This religion shows that as God's expression, His image and likeness, we have the ability to love; it is natural to each one of us. Understanding this encourages us to see our fellow beings as they truly are--as God's man, the perfect, sinless, pure, loving reflection of God. This is the real spiritual identity of each one of us. And no matter how ungodlike someone may seem to be, we can know that right there is God's perfect, spiritual child.
This recognition enables us to feel more healing, compassion toward others. Why? Because in the consciousness where Christly love predominates, the divine is embracing the human. And this actually causes our hearts to change in a wonderful, tangible way. As we make earnest and consistent efforts to "put off the old man" (to use St. Paul's phrase), we find ourselves, to our joy and delight, feeling something of the warmth and tenderness that animated Jesus. We feel the restorative, healing Christ surrounding us and those we deal with. This helps us to see through limiting, spiritually unenlightened views of our ourselves and others that would keep kind words unspoken and loving deeds undone.
Some people may feel at times that there is something a little weak about being warm and loving--something that strong, self-reliant people just don't do. But think about Jesus. Where have we ever had an example of a more courageous yet tenderhearted person? Having a heart that overflowed with love didn't interfere with his moral courage or healing power or dynamic spirituality one bit.
To be caring, and loving toward others can demand great spiritual stamina at times. But even if we have to pace the floors in prayer in order to conform to what the Master requires of us, through the power of Christ we can gain forgiveness and healing love.
Mary Baker Eddy points out in Miscellaneous Writings, "A little more grace, a motive made pure, a few truths tenderly told, a heart softened, a character subdued, a life consecrated, would restore the right action of the mental mechanism, and make manifest the movement of body and soul in accord with God."
Wonderful, healing words to think about here.
