From self-justification to trust in God

Have you ever felt that self-justification was a form of defending yourself? I have—probably more times than I care to admit. On the surface, both actions can seem pretty similar. After all, if we’re justifying our actions or thoughts in some way, it may seem that we’re rightfully sticking up for ourselves, not letting ourselves get pushed around, or just trying to love ourselves a little better. 

However, Mary Baker Eddy, in her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, doesn’t have the same outlook when it comes to self-justification. In fact, she lists it with a couple of other qualities that she says constitute “the law of sin and death”! She states, “In patient obedience to a patient God, let us labor to dissolve with the universal solvent of Love the adamant of error,—self-will, self-justification, and self-love,—which wars against spirituality and is the law of sin and death” (p. 242).

How then can we dissolve self-justification so we can go forward with healing solutions and resolutions, as well as peace of mind? As we learn more about God as the all-knowing, all-loving divine Mind, we naturally feel inclined to let Him guide us. Then, feelings of self-justification drop away.

As we learn more about God as the all-knowing, all-loving divine Mind, feelings of self-justification drop away.

I had an experience that completely turned around after my thought shifted away from self-justification to spiritual ideas and unselfish thinking. I own a large piece of property subdivided into parcels, and at one point, I was having difficulty selling or developing some of the lots. After working with different real estate agents over a five-year period and making no real progress in selling the land, I decided to start building homes, because homes were beginning to sell, while land was not. I went over the numbers with a new marketing group, came up with a plan that was financially sound for me, and let my business partner (who was the main builder within the development) know of my intentions. However, after I showed him the numbers for the cost to build, he informed me that he could not build at that cost. 

Thus began months of wrangling, frustration, self-justification, and anger on both our parts. Because the builder was my legal business partner, I needed to work this out to move forward with the project; and I also didn’t want the situation to undermine the friendship between his family and mine. But it appeared that the situation was unresolvable.

I had been trying to pray about this situation, but I was also letting self-justification lead the way. I figured I had a right to call the shots; after all, I was putting up the money for the new homes, and I was carrying the costs of maintaining the development—at the risk of foreclosure, which was going to happen if there was no solution. So in my thought at the time, I was right and my business partner was wrong; I was trying to save the project and he was trying to block it.

Well, as you can imagine, this line of reasoning didn’t get us anywhere! Thankfully, the Christ, Truth, is always present and providing healing solutions; but we need to be willing to listen. After months of stagnation, I finally got to the point of wanting to listen. And what came to me was to trust God, our divine Parent. I noticed a sign that was posted near our development that said, “If God is your co-pilot, switch seats!” What a perfectly-timed reminder!

I saw that the project was an opportunity to demonstrate God’s love and care.

There are some beautiful statements in First Corinthians that speak to the fairness and unlimited generosity of God as Spirit. Several verses in particular caught my attention: “There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal,” and, “All these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will” (12: 6, 7, 11). After thinking about these verses one day, and also learning that the word severally means “individually,” I began to realize that God knows what each of His children needs, and He supplies it. God, Spirit, is all-knowing and therefore knows all that is real—which is certainly more than a mortal, limited view can ever know. I saw that the project was an opportu­nity to demonstrate God’s love and care. I also thought of this sentence of Mrs. Eddy’s: “Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals” (Science and Health, p. 13). Divine Love loves, and therefore provides, equips, directs, develops, strengthens, and sustains. 

As I began to listen to God for guidance and to focus on practicing humility over self-righteousness, I realized that I could let go of self-justification and ill will, letting a sincere Christian manner take the lead in my thought. Sub­sequently, I felt led to go back to my partner and ask him what he could build the house for, and we were able to come to a compromise. Fear and anger were replaced with cooperation and kindness. We then got an offer on one of the homes we had advertised to build. The construction was completed smoothly, we closed in a timely manner, and the new owners were very happy with their home. Both my partner and I were also able to make a fair and reasonable profit. Two more homes have been successfully built since that time, and the project continues to move forward efficiently.

Since this experience, I’ve been much more alert in watching for “‘me’ thinking,” which includes self-justification, self-will, and self-love. I’ve been more earnest in defending my thought to keep those three intruders out and trying to express a meek and childlike submission to the one all-governing Mind. God is the great knower, the great defender, the great builder, “who alone doeth great wonders” (Psalms 136:4). We can see God’s care and provision for all of us as we trust Him and let Him lead, and then witness productive results.