All people have beliefs. That’s one thing that everyone in the world has in common. Our beliefs are fundamental to how we view the world and how we make decisions and act.

Is it possible to change what we believe? Can we have beliefs that are new and improved? Yes! 

For example, when I have to use a chainsaw to cut down trees, I have come to believe, or understand as a result of experience, that a sharp cutting chain does a much better job than a dull chain. The same is true in the kitchen, where a sharp knife slices through a tomato much better than a dull one. 

What divine Mind knows is above and beyond any human technique, including positive thinking.

Beyond cutting trees or tomatoes, there are many times when an improvement in belief is crucial to our progress. Perhaps a certain belief is proving to be detrimental, and a better belief would be beneficial in helping us to advance in a more healthful and constructive direction of thought and action.

There’s a statement in the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, that has been particularly helpful to me. The author writes, “An improved belief is one step out of error, and aids in taking the next step and in understanding the situation in Christian Science” (p. 296).

Experience has shown me that constructive and useful changes begin with improved thinking—a way of thinking that leads out of the limited and small and into the higher and more expansive.

This improved way of thinking is based on divine metaphysics and the spiritual nature of reality. In metaphysics, an improved belief requires a shift in thought from a material basis to a spiritual one, from human or mortal thoughts to an openness to listening to the Divine. There is always hope for improvement based on the spiritual premise of God being the one, infinite Mind—intelligence itself; Mind is the source of all our intelligence. What divine Mind knows is above and beyond any human mind technique, including positive thinking, which relies on the physical senses to exchange a lower belief for a higher one.

Christian Science teaches how to lift a human yearning for “better” to a spiritual sense, which is not just better but perfect. Science and Health speaks of “the unsatisfied human craving for something better, higher, holier than is afforded by a material belief in a physical God and man” (p. 258). A spiritual approach draws thought closer to the nature and origin of reality. It helps us understand our true being, our closeness and connection to the supreme Being, and this understanding heals.

The Gospel of Matthew in the Bible reports that when Christ Jesus began his healing ministry, the first word he proclaimed in his public teaching was “Repent” (see 4:17). Used here, the Greek word for repent means “to think differently” or to “reconsider” (see Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible). To my sense, repentance, thinking differently, reconsideration, and improving our beliefs are all part of Jesus’ message.

Christian Science teaches that Christ is the influence of God that exists in every human consciousness. To the Hebrew prophet Elijah, this divine presence was heard as the “still small voice” of Truth (I Kings 19:12). It is Christ, the divine manifestation of God that Jesus lived and demonstrated, that causes us to think differently. Christ instructs us to reconsider what we have been believing in order to arrive at a better, stronger, and more spiritual faith and understanding.

In attempts to improve how I think, I regularly pause at different times during my day to ask myself, “What am I believing at this exact moment?” Once I have identified my current belief, I then challenge myself to improve what I have accepted, asking God in prayer to reveal a better concept.

For example, I was recently working on a home improvement project that was more strenuous than things I normally do. Soon after finishing the job, I began to feel some discomfort throughout my body. The pain increased to a level where I was unable to find any relief, whether standing, sitting, or lying down. I paused and asked myself, “What am I believing at this exact moment?” It became clear that I was believing that there was a physical cause for the discomfort I was experiencing. That somehow a challenging physical task could have an effect on my well-being. 

I was confident that I could improve what I was believing. I was able to quickly replace that human belief of physical causation with a better belief—in fact, the absolute, spiritual truth—from what I have learned over the years as a student of Christian Science: that God, Spirit, is the only cause, that there is no physical causation, and that God does not punish us for the good we do. I also knew from prior healing experiences that an improved belief is the result of gaining a more correct view of God and of my true nature as His spiritual idea.

I challenge myself to improve what I have accepted, asking God in prayer to reveal a better concept.

Intuitively, like many people, I understand that, whether I’m suffering or feeling great, there is more to me than flesh and bones. In fact, as children of God, we all naturally express spiritual qualities that are entirely good, harmonious, and permanent. With this improved belief, the pain instantly began to lessen. In a few minutes, it was totally gone. All my concerns were quieted, and my heart filled with gratitude for the fulfillment of God’s promise of progress and peace, of harmony and healing.

In an article published 122 years ago in this same magazine, one of Mrs. Eddy’s early students wrote of the “transforming influence” improved beliefs can have on advancing mankind to ways that are better, higher, and holier: “It is inevitable that the transforming influence of Christian Science should improve the thought, enlarge the favorable expectation, and augment the achievements of its followers” (Edward A. Kimball, “By way of reminder,” May 16, 1903). As a seeker of Truth, I find it encouraging to witness the power of improved beliefs.