Christian Science teaches absolute and exclusive reliance on God. When one begins the study of Christian Science and feels its beneficial effects, he may wonder why in the past he has left God out of consideration so much of the time. To put God first in one's life instead of leaving Him out, to trust in Him absolutely in every detail of one's existence, may seem radical to many, because it is diametrically opposite to their customary way of life. However, the application and utilization of the correct understanding of the Science of being has for over seventy-five years brought harmony, health, abundance, and happiness to many thousands who were in great need or without hope.
Jesus always put God first, and Christian Scientists follow the example and teachings of Jesus, for he is their Exemplar. He went about doing good, and his concept of doing good was to heal the sick, reform the sinner, and raise the dead. That he had extraordinary spiritual capacities is an acknowledged fact, but he never claimed that they originated in himself. He placed full reliance on God, Spirit, as the great and only power, and he reflected that power, which was the means of his accomplishing all the good that he did. He said, as recorded in John (5:19), "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." This characteristic of putting God first and recognizing His omnipotence is a Christly virtue that is greatly to be desired; and when it is shown in one who more than any other performed what are called miraculous deeds, and who by his teachings exhibited and manifested greater wisdom and love than any of us have ever witnessed, does it not seem that these attributes should be accepted as the ideal and pattern for our activities?
The effects of not putting God first may be corrected by studying and applying the truths of the Bible, which are explained in their spiritual significance in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. Here we read (p. 144), "When the Science of being is universally understood, every man will be his own physician, and Truth will be the universal panacea."
