Shortly after graduating high school, I married my sweetheart. My mom shared, “Never let anything get its foot in the door of your marriage.” My parents had a harmonious marriage, so I valued this advice, keeping it close in thought. 

My husband and I often hosted card games and fun evenings with friends and family. One frequent visitor to our home at that time was a close childhood friend of my husband’s. He and my husband worked on construction and vehicle projects together. I loved cooking meals and baking treats for them to enjoy after work.

But one day, a fellow church member whom my young daughter and I visited frequently unexpectedly arrested my thinking about this friendship. I explained why we had to get home, as we were expecting our friend later for dinner. She responded emphatically, “You know, he doesn’t visit to see your husband; he goes there to see you!”

I was aghast at this suggestion, since neither my husband nor his friend had ever blurred the lines of respect for moral rules and boundaries. While this was just one person’s opinion, I value friends’ observations and take them seriously. I began recalling my conversations and interactions with my husband’s friend, but perceived no indication of anything awry. 

As I continued to pray and listen, I asked myself if I had an overzealous admiration for him. Regretfully and uncomfortably—but necessarily—I had to admit that there was a hidden crush. It was offensive to me that I hadn’t caught on sooner. My love for my husband was unquestionable. But infatuation is subtle; it hides, comes in the guise of our own feelings, and oh-so-subtly gets its foot in the door if we’re not watchful. But I knew that our growing family, marriage, and this friendship were all safe thanks to the loving, moral instruction found in the Bible, which enables us to actually overcome sin, not just avoid it. 

Feelings that don’t have their basis in unselfishness and purity are not leaders.

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructs his disciples: “If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: . . . And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell” (Matthew 5:29, 30). Mary Baker Eddy explains in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures that Jesus’ “precepts require the disciple to cut off the right hand and pluck out the right eye,—that is, to set aside even the most cherished beliefs and practices, to leave all for Christ” (p. 141).

This symbolism illustrates our duty—and ability—to forsake anything that falsely claims to be part of our consciousness, such as sensuality, lusts, and other false attractions. 

Desires aroused through physical attraction may seem irresistible, and we may mistake them for being led in a positive direction, when really they cause us to drift away from spiritual-mindedness. Feelings that don’t have their basis in unselfishness and purity are not true leaders. The divine Mind, God, is the only legitimate leader of thoughts, feelings, and actions, because this Mind is the only actual origin of thought, feeling, and action. If desires and feelings are immoral, sensual, or sinful, they cannot be of God and therefore must be removed from thought.

So, I started cutting sin out of my thinking. I reasoned that “false attraction is betrayal, and betrayal is evil. I am not an adulterer.” If God is my true, divine Father-Mother, then my true selfhood is able to feel, embody, and entertain only thoughts that glorify God, who is Truth, Love, and Principle. Divine wisdom uncovers misguided thoughts, feelings, and emotions imposed on us. In reality, there is no mind opposed to God, and therefore no mind capable of imposing erroneous thoughts on God’s children. There are no built-in materialistic wants and desires that make up our individuality, no predetermined inclinations toward sensuality.

There are no built-in materialistic wants and desires that make up our individuality, no pre-determined inclinations towards sensuality.

If God isn’t sensual, then neither is man. Each of us is made in the image and likeness of the divine Mind; therefore, we are capable of expressing only qualities of this Mind: wisdom, intelligence, discernment. I exercised this discernment and rejected sensual thoughts, declaring that I was not attracted to, or fooled by, sensual “wants,” flattering infatuations, or misleading feelings. 

I also reflected on and was inspired by Jesus’ unyielding moral courage and Mrs. Eddy’s unwavering devotion to following his example. The way they lived their lives exemplifies what it means to live by the Christ standard and demonstrate true freedom and goodness.

This mental sobering up in my thought led to humility and allowed reform to take place. As beautifully stated in Psalms, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (139:23, 24). I also cut out self-justification—thoughts that would argue, “It’s human nature”; “It’s not uncommon”; “Just ignore it”; or “No big deal, you didn’t act on it.” A prayerful mental defense healed those misguided feelings. Interestingly, within a week, our friend had a girlfriend, and we were genuinely happy for him, though we didn’t see him much anymore.

Mrs. Eddy states in Science and Health, “The likeness of God we lose sight of through sin, which beclouds the spiritual sense of Truth; and we realize this likeness only when we subdue sin and prove man’s heritage, the liberty of the sons of God” (p. 315). In reality, which is entirely spiritual, not material, each of us truly is the expression of our Father-Mother God now, and that truth alone identifies and governs us. Understanding our inseparability from divine Principle leads to true self-government, protecting our thought from anything that would lead us away from God.

Overcoming sensuality is salutary, spiritualizing thought and strengthening moral courage. Simple, innocent, lasting enjoyment comes naturally and abundantly as we honestly obey God, the source of all good.

The need to close the door on sin is clear. Is it ever too late to subdue sin? No. Is it ever too early? Never. As we grow in moral courage, let’s call out sin and remove it from our thinking. Doing so brings blessings beyond the scope of our own lives, as each sin overcome benefits all of humanity both physically and morally.