When asked what was the first and great commandment our Master replied, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength," and to this he added, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
Our Master knew that if we obeyed the first and great commandment we would be better fitted to obey the second, that we would then only see and recognize the perfect man, and as we loved God and began to understand our true sonship, we would hasten to overcome all that stood in the way of our perfect realization of God's idea.
How well he understood the great problem,—that each and every one must conquer self. How it stands out every moment of our consciousness, demanding indulgence, attention, and gratification, never satisfied, but with constantly increasing demands for more and more.
It shows its self in a hundred ways and forms, in self-will, self-love, self-justification, envy, jealousy, pride, injustice, avarice, love of applause, a desire for leadership, for seats in the high places, and to be heard of men.
This same self points out to us the faults in others, and shows us how much better we are than our neighbor, that asks us to concern ourselves in solving our neighbor's problem, to point out to him the mote that is in his eye, while it fails to point out the beam in our own eye.
We must know that our progress and salvation are not dependent on how soon or how well another works out his problem.
Would we wish to have our work or advancement judged by the success or failure of another? So far as our neighbor is concerned, our duty toward him is clearly defined, to love him as ourself. If we do this honestly, we will have fulfilled our highest obligation.
We are often appalled at the magnitude of the great questions of avarice, dishonesty, injustice, revenge, superstition, intemperance, poverty, and degradation which we see manifested around us in individuals, corporations, political parties, and whole nations.
The great and sometimes small questions which drag nations into war disturb us. We look back into history and see one long tale of bloodshed, slavery, and intolerance, most of it based on a pretext of serving God, and we see to-day much of the same feeling being manifested in communities, individuals, churches, and nations, and we ask, Where is the remedy?
Is not our portion of the solving of these great questions the conquering of self? the bringing out of God's perfect man? Error is darkness. If we as Christian Scientists let our light shine as we are taught, will there not soon be enough light to dispel all the darkness of error?
It is our own problem of self that needs our constant attention, watchfulness, ceaseless prayer and examination. Our text-book, Science and Health, by Mary Baker G. Eddy, says (p. 314), "We ought to examine ourselves, and learn what is the affection and purpose of the heart; for this alone can show us what we honestly are." Remember each day and hour is a complete seedtime and harvest. If we sow the good seeds of love, meekness, gentleness, humility, good deeds, and self-forgetfulness, the harvest is a sure one of love, peace, and joy; but if with the good seed we allow the tares of anger, malice, envy, jealousy, injustice, ingratitude, self-love, or selfishness to mingle, equally sure is the harvest of sorrow, disappointment, sin, sickness, and death. As ye sow, so shall ye reap. How clearly the revelator saw the necessity of overcoming self, and how pronounced is his declaration of the sure reward: "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."
Could we ask greater reward? The task is no greater than we can accomplish. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling," said Paul; but he also said, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." "If God be for us, who can be against us?" "Occupy till I come." Stand firm until an understanding of the Christ come to you, which will lead you into all Truth.
While undoubtedly our great problem and individual work is within ourselves, we must not forget that we are only one of God's millions working out their own problems also, and in working with them we must reflect in every way possible love and charity, as is so beautifully expressed by our Leader in "Miscellaneous Writings," p. 224.
We are constantly reminded in that glorious work, Science and Health, of the necessity of overcoming self. On page 138 we read, "Self-love is more opaque than a solid body. 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; for these war against spirituality, and are the law of sin and death."
To this we may add the words of the Apostle Paul, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."
