From self-justification to trust in God

Have you ever felt that self-justification was a form of defending yourself? I have—probably more times than I care to admit. On the surface, both actions can seem pretty similar. After all, if we’re justifying our actions or thoughts in some way, it may seem that we’re rightfully sticking up for ourselves, not letting ourselves get pushed around, or just trying to love ourselves a little better. 

However, Mary Baker Eddy, in her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, doesn’t have the same outlook when it comes to self-justification. In fact, she lists it with a couple of other qualities that she says constitute “the law of sin and death”! She states, “In patient obedience to a patient God, let us labor to dissolve with the universal solvent of Love the adamant of error,—self-will, self-justification, and self-love,—which wars against spirituality and is the law of sin and death” (p. 242).

How then can we dissolve self-justification so we can go forward with healing solutions and resolutions, as well as peace of mind? As we learn more about God as the all-knowing, all-loving divine Mind, we naturally feel inclined to let Him guide us. Then, feelings of self-justification drop away.

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