"Know thyself!" What a glorious, but searching command! And how, someone may ask, is one to know himself? Is man a material being, having a mind and a soul within a matter body? Or is he wholly spiritual, dependent upon God for existence and life?

The Bible gives us the answer to these questions. In the first chapter of Genesis we read: "And God said. Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.... So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.... And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good" (verses 26, 27, 31). The Scripture also informs us that "God is a Spirit" (John 4:24). Then man who is His image must be spiritual.

We must recognize this, for this is the only man God, Mind, knows. This man, the true selfhood of everyone, is constantly expressing the intelligence, the wisdom, the joy, the love, the dominion bestowed upon him by his Father-Mother God. His substance—the substance of Soul, of Spirit—is enduring, indestructible, sound, active. He lacks no good quality, for he is complete, satisfied, intact; he bears witness to Mind's infinite supply of ideas.

The man God created is forever dwelling in "the secret place of the most High" (Ps. 91:1), conscious of his God-given dominion and security, assured of the controlling law of divine Principle, Love, the law of universal harmony. This is the man with whom we are to identify ourselves. This is to "know thyself"!

But what of the fleshly man, the man made of "the dust of the ground." as the second chapter of Genesis records? He is the counterfeit, a false concept of man to be laid off as we gain the understanding of man's true nature elucidated in the teachings of Christian Science. Of the material man. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, pertinently says in her book "Retrospection and Introspection" (p. 86): "Art thou still unacquainted with thyself? Then be introduced to this self. 'Know thyself!' as said the classic Grecian motto. Note well the falsity of this mortal self!" And then she admonishes, "Cleanse every stain from this wanderer's soiled garments, wipe the dust from his feet and the tears from his eyes, that you may behold the real man, the fellow-saint of a holy household."

Through understanding our true spiritual selfhood we prove the unreality of the mortal sense of selfhood. Mrs. Eddy writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 254), "But the human self must be evangelized." This evangelization can only be accomplished as we grasp the truth regarding man and heed Paul's advice "that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind: and that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Eph. 4:22-24). Is not this to be truly evangelized?

And what is "the former conversation"? Is it not that heretofore we have been accustomed to identify ourselves with matter? Has not our conversation sometimes been about a material body, how well or how sick it was; how strong or how weak: how thin or how stout? Have we not looked to material conditions or associations for our happiness, our joy our pleasure? Have not stocks, bonds, and bank accounts frequently been consulted as to the measure of our prosperity or wealth? And many times have not envy, jealousy, prejudice, dislike, rivalry, hate, or idle gossip influenced our thought or conversation about our neighbor, our friend, our relative?

If so, these are the thoughts and conversations that are to be laid off. They are corrupt, inasmuch as they pertain to that which is material, mundane, temporal, fleeting—to that which God never made. Indulgence in such practices only tends to keep us on the level of matter and material beliefs. These practices subject us to all that is erroneous and baneful and for the time being stop spiritual progress. These are the stains that are to be cleansed from our garments, the dust that is to be wiped from our feet, and the tears that are to be wiped from our eyes. The evangelization of self can only be attained by purified thinking, by daily, yea, hourly, identifying ourselves with God, with the true, the good, the pure, with the substance of Soul.

Our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, admonishes us to know our true self when she says: "At all times and under all circumstances, overcome evil with good. Know thyself, and God will supply the wisdom and the occasion for a victory over evil" (Science and Health, p. 571). Know thy true self, whose source, origin, and cause is Principle. This true selfhood is subject and amenable to the divine government alone. Know thyself to be endowed by infinite Mind with unlimited intelligence, sagacity, wisdom, understanding, alertness, and spiritual perception! Know thyself as the expression of Soul, reflecting divine consciousness in joy, purity, bliss!

Know thyself as the manifestation of Spirit, as expressing unmarred spirituality, Christlikeness, graciousness, holiness! Know thyself as the eternal representative of Life; Life without beginning or ending. Life which is expressed in vitality, wholeness, soundness, completeness, divine satisfaction! Know thyself as upright. Godlike, the man of integrity, ever at one with the perfection of being! Know thyself as forever at home in the kingdom of God, divine Love, whose amplitude has bountifully supplied every need.

Thus aligning our sense of selfhood with God our creator, we shall steadfastly rise above material beliefs and put off earth weights, attaining higher, holier consciousness, where harmony, peace, and spiritual joy abound, and man is ever at one with God.