Honorable service that glorifies God
As we accept God’s redeeming love, we find freedom from lingering effects of trauma and regret – and a way forward.
Nothing can tarnish God’s glory or hinder God from providing care for His creation – this is a comforting reality brought out by Christian Science.
This spiritual truth is needed by many in the world today, including those who serve in dangerous situations, such as military service members as well as police officers and other first responders. Their service can sometimes require them to make very difficult decisions while under great pressure. For some, these decisions continue to be very troubling even long after they were made.
If a tragic mistake was made in the heat of the moment, it can be a heavy burden to carry. It may seem that there is little or no hope for healing. But prayer as taught by Christ Jesus and further illuminated in the teachings of Christian Science truly can make a difference for the better.
The lingering effects of trauma would seem to run counter to the promises of God’s deliverance and care given so clearly throughout the Bible and demonstrated especially in Christ Jesus’ healing works. Jesus taught, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10). The Greek word translated in this passage as “persecuted” can also refer to being pursued.
This second meaning seems to fit many individuals who are dealing with trauma and regret from having encountered tragic circumstances or from having made a mistake; they may have striven to be truly righteous in their service to others, but they are being negatively pursued by the past.
In divine reality, “the kingdom of heaven” is theirs, and everyone’s, now and can be demonstrated now.
I have witnessed proof of this deliverance while serving as a chaplain in the United States Army Reserve. In one case, I got a call from a soldier who had been unable to sleep and was troubled by anger and guilt over things that had happened while he was in combat.
The message that came through prayer was a simple statement. I told him, “These emotions don’t glorify God.” As we considered this, he could easily grasp the need to express forgiveness. But he wasn’t so immediately able to let go of guilt.
I pointed out the Bible account of how Jesus interacted with Peter after Jesus’ resurrection (see John 21:15-17). Jesus did not even mention the fact that Peter had denied knowing him three times in the hours leading up to the crucifixion. Instead, Jesus asked Peter three times if Peter loved him.
This interaction gave Peter a chance to affirm his love and find freedom and redemption from his mistake. I shared what this meant to me: that instead of staying trapped in guilt, we can always ask ourselves if we are loving God and His Son, the Christ. As we grow in this love, God will show us how to correct any past wrongdoing and free us from fear and guilt.
The next day the soldier said he had slept well, and a month later he said that God had taken his “stony heart and replaced it with a fresh one.” We praised God together.
Jesus’ teachings can free us from the belief that we are inherently flawed or prone to making mistakes – His teachings show us the pure love of God that we naturally express in our true nature as God’s child. The understanding of this truth enables us to drop old ways of thinking and acting and claim and express more of what we really are as God’s offspring, spiritual and pure.
It’s helpful to think less of remedying the past or present, and instead let God, through His impartial love, draw us closer to Him. Then we become more aware of God’s presence and goodness as we love God and what He has done for us. The glory of God, delivering us from all evil, is seen more clearly as individuals are drawn to infinite good, God.
All that is created by God must glorify Him. Christ Jesus’ sacrifice through the crucifixion, and his exaltation in the resurrection and ascension, proved that no circumstance could tarnish God’s glory. Jesus proved that everyone’s true self is at one with God, our divine Principle, on whom we can rely. The man and woman of God’s creating could never express or experience anything but goodness that glorifies God.
All the baggage of negative qualities and feelings can drop from consciousness when we awake to what we really are in our true light as God’s spiritual image and likeness.
Adapted from an article published in the Sept. 2, 2019, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.