One night I awoke with a painful skin irritation. I began to pray for myself and thought about the account of creation in the first chapter of Genesis in the Bible, which says man was made in the image and likeness of God. I affirmed that I was that spiritual likeness and couldn’t suffer from any material condition. Soon I fell asleep. 

However, the irritation persisted. At the time, I was far along in a pregnancy. In preparation for the baby’s arrival, I was digging deeper in my study of Christian Science and learning so much about the baby’s and my true, spiritual identity and inheritance, both of which are from God. I had also been reading the Sermon on the Mount and endeavoring to put into practice the grand lessons Christ Jesus taught us. 

I was feeling enlightened and at peace. So I wondered why I was having this physical problem. Was it because of a past mistake I’d made? Or was I thinking something I shouldn’t? When I mentioned this to the Christian Science practitioner who was treating me, she reminded me that we were not on a hunt for a cause for disease and that God doesn’t punish anyone­—His children are not sinners. Christian Science treatment shows us what is spiritually true about God’s child, today and always. It affirms that God—divine Love—gives us only what is good and doesn’t cause us to sin or suffer. God is the only cause, so there is no cause for disease.