Defeating the tempter
Have you ever had a problem—physical, emotional, or other—and mistakenly thought you probably deserved it? Maybe you felt you weren’t praying correctly or effectively for yourself each day or living up to the standard Christ Jesus set for his followers. Many have experienced this sense of failure and defeat at one time or another, but the very opposite may be true.
Now, daily prayer for ourselves is essential, and following Christ is a Christian duty. Neither can be cavalierly dismissed or neglected. But it may be that you are actually doing everything right and that such feelings of unworthiness are just the “tempter” (see Matthew 4:3) or “serpent” (see Genesis 3:1) trying to derail your efforts and demoralize you in order to hinder your practice of spiritual healing.
The Bible elsewhere speaks of this evil influence as “the accuser” (Revelation 12:10), devil, Satan, “the carnal mind” (Romans 8:7), a liar and the father of lies (see John 8:44), and “your adversary” (I Peter 5:8). No matter what term is used, it is all the same belief in a power opposed to God. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, also identifies it as mortal mind, which she defines in part as “nothing claiming to be something” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 591). Just as light cannot coexist with darkness, God—good—and evil are opposites and cannot exist together.
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