Editorial December 28, 2015 Issue

Yield to the greatness of your divine nature

Barbara Vining

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.

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