Article December 22, 1934 ISSUE

Sincerity

ALINE POWERS DUKE

In "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany," our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, has written (p. 203), "A deep sincerity is sure of success, for God takes care of it." A dictionary defines "sincerity," in part, as "honesty of mind or intention; freedom from simulation, hypocrisy, disguise, or false pretense." This being true, the most sincere person the world has ever known was Jesus of Nazareth. His sincerity shines throughout the four Gospels as a beacon light to illumine all who would emulate his example. His freedom from simulation, his uncompromising recognition of evil's nothingness, his honesty of purpose, enabled him to see through all sham and subterfuge, all subtle allurements of so-called pleasure in matter, all trickery. With an unshakable conviction that the divine Mind is the only Mind, his clarity of vision and unmixed allegiance to Principle rendered him capable of instantly recognizing and overcoming all fraud and mockery, all deceit and treachery, and carried him safely through the wilderness of material beliefs into the haven of spiritual reality.

Jesus once said to his disciples: "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." One who is really sincere in his effort to express more Godlike qualities, who is hungering and thirsting for holiness—such a one is in little danger of being deceived by the obsequious vagaries of so-called mortal mind. But even as Jesus lovingly reminded his students to be alert in detecting the machinations of evil, so do we need to be ever on guard against its assertions in our thinking, daily striving to manifest more of the Christ-ideal in claiming and maintaining the qualities of righteousness. Such sincerity of resolve is indeed "sure of success," for it is of God, and He "takes care of it."

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