Article July 15, 1996 Issue

Finding ourselves

Joan Sieber Ware

Practicing Christianity is a full-time job. It means following Christ Jesus' example 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our degree of success in practicing Christianity, whether at home or at work or in healing, depends on putting off a personal sense of self and letting God, Spirit, shine through.

This is what Jesus taught and did. Only by following him on this point can we really find our true Christly selfhood.

Until we've given up a selfhood apart from God, we're members of one of two clubs: the "I can't do that!" club or the "Of course I can!" club. The "I can't" members face every new situation with fear, reluctance, doubt, and feelings of inadequacy. The "Of course I can" members are quite confident in their own personal abilities and face each new task with self-reliance and self-confidence. It really doesn't matter which group we might identify with, because both are just different sides of the same coin: the coin of believing that we live and act independently of God. Both must be found to be inadequate because they leave God entirely out of the picture. We find a higher degree of success by exchanging these viewpoints for a growing understanding of God's constant presence.

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