Do we need human approval in order to do our best? Do we shrink abashed in the face of human disapproval? If so, we need to realize that neither state of consciousness is to be found in God, the divine Mind. Christian Science teaches that the creator, immortal Love, who formed man in His own perfect likeness, cherishes man as His beloved expression, and man, constantly occupied in reflecting Him, seeks nothing and needs nothing, for man is spiritually complete.

Since the man whom God created is incapable of imperfect action, he is not subject to critical thinking. But in the human realm we must seek always to do and be that of which God would approve, until the human corresponds to the divine standard. We do this as we dwell "in the secret place of the most High" and "abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Ps. 91: 1). In this secret place of spiritual consciousness we can rejoice in the precious knowledge that we are approved of God.

When we are serving our highest understanding of God, divine Principle, we need not be disturbed if the human mind is displeased with us. But if disapproval is merited, we have the opportunity to cast error out of our consciousness and thus let the disapproval be a blessing to us.

Mary Baker Eddy writes in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 245), "It is difficult to say which may be most mischievous to the human heart, the praise or the dispraise of men." If human approval is given with love and received with humility, only good can result. Often the hearts of men are encouraged and assured by such praise; so let us be quick to express our approval of the achievements of others. However, if approval fosters egotism, it may retard progress.

Mrs. Eddy speaks of the danger which results from self-satisfaction and says (ibid., pp. 9,10), "A false sense of what constitutes happiness is more disastrous to human progress than all that an enemy or enmity can obtrude upon the mind or engraft upon its purposes and achievements wherewith to obstruct life's joys and enhance its sorrows." Often human disapproval causes one to reach out for a higher understanding of spiritual reality, to assert the divine worthiness of his true being, to find that he has a contribution to make to the sum total of the world's good and can make it.

Our dearest friend is God, divine Love. He always reads our motives aright and loves us with an unfailing love. To be in His presence is to know a joy that transcends all human joys. In His company we are at our best: we are at ease; we need not seek to defend ourselves.

In sweet communion with God, we realize His love for us, even as it was realized by Daniel of old. While in Babylonian captivity, where he had been subjected to numerous acts of hostility, one angelic message of God to Daniel was preceded by the words (Dan. 10: 19), "O man greatly beloved."

Only by claiming the perfect reality of our being as God's ideas shall we succeed in redeeming our human sense of selfhood from faults and imperfections. Since this is so, we must be alert to detect any attempt of the false belief of mind in matter to lower us from our altitude of correct, spiritual self-appraisal.

Let us watch the temptation to disapprove of ourselves. We must forgive ourselves by destroying our errors and serenely maintain a right regard for ourselves as God's spiritual evidence. Thus we shall stand firm, and our righteous activity will not be paralyzed by self-doubt. There is nothing to condemn in the real man, and, in truth, there is no other man. We shall remain unmoved and undismayed by disapproval as we occupy ourselves in demonstrating the spiritual perfection of ourselves and in realizing that perfection in others.

Our Way-shower, Christ Jesus, was subject to the bitter disapproval of men, yet he never questioned his integrity as God's witness. Let unjustified attacks help us to find the love of God more closely about us, to seek ever more faithfully to deserve the approval of God, and to rise into a consciousness of divine Science in which there are no condemning mortals and no mortals to be condemned. As we understand that God is All-in-all and that "there is none else beside him" (Deut. 4:35), we shall prove that we are God's beloved, in whom He is well pleased.

It is a finite, personal sense of self which demands the praise of others, and it is a personal sense of self which is withered by criticism. A young student of Christian Science saw the advantages of turning away from a limited personal sense to divine reality when she went to a dance. She had not learned the steps of one of the current dances, and during the first dance she did not follow her partner very well. After the music stopped, her thoughts were apprehensive that she would not be popular because she had not danced well. Her fears seemed to be justified, for as the time approached for the orchestra to start playing again, no one had asked her to dance.

Suddenly she saw that she must change this personal, fearful attitude, which would repel a partner. She knew that Love was in reality expressed through her and all around her, and she became conscious of the omnipresence of divine Love. She felt beloved, cared for, and aglow in this realization of spiritual Love. Then she was asked to dance. This time she was well able to follow her partner and had an altogether happy evening.

Divine being is above and beyond human judging and weighing. Since, in truth, we have always been the spiritual expression of infinite Spirit, we have never been subject to either human approval or human disapproval. To a class of her students, Mrs. Eddy once said (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 280): "You have come to be weighed; and yet, I would not weigh you, nor have you weighed. How is this? Because God does all, and there is nothing in the opposite scale."