Article April 28, 1956 Issue

THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF-CONTROL

EDITH BAILEY

If the question were asked, "What is one great need in the world today?" the answers would undoubtedly vary, but many might rightly answer that the need is for self-control. One definition of "control" is "to exercise restraining or directing influence over;...to curb." This definition shows what we must do for ourselves or for others if we would expect to maintain a standard of obedience to law and order.

A ready consent to generally accepted rules of good conduct and action brings good results. An earnest desire to bring thought into accord with such rules is a step in the right direction. This mental attitude leads to a fuller respect for law and consequently a greater willingness to be more consistently obedient to recognized authority. Then necessarily there follow a larger consideration for the rights of others, less selfishness, and less stubborn resistance to orderliness and harmony.

The answer to the problem of undisciplined thought can be found only in Christian Science, which teaches that our premise is the perfection of the creator and of His perfect creation, forever governed by divine law. The acknowledgment of this premise produces self-control in the individual. Christian Science explains how one may gain complete salvation from sin and indeed from all the woes of disobedience and lawlessness. One is freed from the heartaches, misery, and burdens which attend resistance to God and to His love and authority as one understands and adheres to the teachings of this Science. We read in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" by Mary Baker Eddy (p. 161), "He who gains self-knowledge, self-control, and the kingdom of heaven within himself, within his own consciousness, is saved through Christ, Truth."

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