Editorial September 8, 1986 Issue

Having one God brings healing

CAROLYN B. SWAN

The First Commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me,"^{Ex. 20:3.} appears in various forms in the Bible. For the Christian, a supreme statement of it is found in Christ Jesus declaration based on Deuteronomy 6, verse 5: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment."^{Matt. 22:37, 38.}

To know that we should have no other than one God, one Mind, invites dutiful compliance with His laws. To understand that there is but one God to have impels ultimate submission to Him. But to have one God because we love Him supremely inspires joyful spiritual awakening to our true being.

Our love for God is born of His love for us. In I John we read, "We love him, because he first loved us."^{I John 4:19.} God's love for us is reflected in our love for Him. As we express this love by living in accord with His laws, we can come to accept our unity with God as His reflection, spiritual man—the unity which Jesus exemplified. We come to realize that because God loves man as His own offspring, man naturally loves his creator as his only God.