Among Christ Jesus’ disciples, “There arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him, and said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great” (Luke 9:46–48). 

To receive a child in Jesus’ name, is to receive the child in his or her divine nature, the very nature Jesus expressed—the Christ, the spiritual idea of God. When we do this, we are receiving the God who sent Jesus into the world—the God who created everyone in His own image and likeness, spiritual and perfect. 

Jesus’ intent was for us to receive one another in our true identity and nature as God’s reflection. In this way we can begin to understand that because we all reflect the same creator, we are not inherently competitive beings; we each include within ourselves, by reflection, all the purity, intelligence, beauty, ability, and originality we are endowed with by our common creator. In this way, we can all express, for the benefit of everyone, the greatness that constitutes our being as God’s spiritual reflection. To the degree that we each express our divine nature, we inspire others to do the same—and in this way the greatness of man in God’s image becomes more and more apparent. 

In line with this, Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered the divine Science of the Christ, the true idea of God, wrote in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures this succinct directive: “The divine must overcome the human at every point” (p. 43). Divinity has all the power, so humanity has power only in proportion as it yields to the divine. Jesus’ supreme success was due to the fact that he expressed the divine—his divine nature as the Son of God. And since our true nature as sons and daughters of God is also divine, we can follow Jesus’ example by allowing our human nature to yield to the divine.

Divinity has all the power, so humanity has power only in proportion as it yields to the divine.

The beauty of yielding to our divine nature is that in doing so we are not defeated, but uplifted and empowered. We are empowered to defeat sinful characteristics that are no part of our true nature and that stand in the way of success in our human endeavors. We are also empowered to defeat disease in ourselves and in others, because disease has no reality or power against God, who didn’t make it. Death also is conquered by the divine nature we possess as God’s reflection. When “the divine … overcome[s] the human at every point” in our thought and lives, death will finally be defeated; we will have been entirely transformed by the power of the God who is our Life.

So, yielding to the divine nature in ourselves is definitely in our best interests; it means letting the supreme power of God, good, take possession of our own consciousness, motives, words, and actions. This is a winning approach to life—for ourselves and for everyone with whom we cross paths. And again, Jesus tells us how to succeed. He gave us what he called the “first and great commandment”—to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”—and its counterpart—to “love thy neighbour as thyself” (see Matthew 22:36–39). 

This is definitely not as “easy as apple pie,” as they say. It means letting divine Love, rather than human will, be expressed in us even in the seemingly mundane aspects of human life. 

Recently, I fell down on the job of yielding to my divine nature when I found charges on my cellphone bill for purchases I had not made. I didn’t speak in a very loving way when the person I reported it to didn’t believe me. Afterward, I was brought to my knees mentally in prayer, and when my natural love for God and man was restored, I was able to go forward with a loving and forgiving approach that quickly resulted in a just and cheerful resolution of the problem. 

When God wins us over to our divine nature in any situation, the contest is over; nothing can compete with God. “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose,” wrote Paul (Romans 8:28). So go into all your human activities and relationships with one overarching purpose—to love God and your neighbor by letting your divine nature overcome the human weaknesses that are no part of your true selfhood. God empowers us to win in this endeavor—when we yield to the greatness of our divine nature.

Barbara Vining