ANYONE with a right purpose in life is at a great advantage, for purpose always helps to give direction to action. And people need direction. To wander through life aimlessly becomes tiresome and gives no one true satisfaction.
The sooner one decides what his purpose is, the better. This is one of the advantages of youth. There is no use in wasting valuable time. Purpose should never be vague or indefinite. It should be clearly defined. When a goal is intelligently conceived, the steps that lead to its attainment develop naturally.
A right purpose is never a selfish one. If it is right, it emanates from God—divine Love, or Principle; and when it has its inception in Love, it expresses Love—it manifests Love's nature. Unselfed love dominates the thought of one whose purpose is God-derived, and self-immolation becomes the rule of life.
No one has ever followed a more clearly defined purpose than Christ Jesus. He said (John 6:38), "I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." At another time he said (Mark 3:35), "Whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother." Here the Master not only was explaining his own life purpose but was showing his followers that they could adopt the same purpose successfully and in this way prove their sonship with God.
Throughout his life on earth Jesus was proving his own sonship with God and, through his merciful healings and penetrating teachings, was showing men that in reality they possessed the same sonship, had the same Father, dwelt eternally in the same divine kingdom of Spirit that he did. Christian Science points to the reward which the Master received for his continuing self-immolation, a reward not imagined by the worldly-minded—even the putting off of the false, mortal sense of life. The demonstration of real identity and the disappearing of the mortal self should be the ultimate purpose of every Christian.
Through the Science of Christianity it becomes evident that not only must one acknowledge that he has spiritual identity, but he must prove it in daily life. Otherwise, the unity of Love and its expression remains a mere theory that has little connection with character or experience. Mary Baker Eddy did not teach a theoretical religion. She says in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 160), "To live so as to keep human consciousness in constant relation with the divine, the spiritual, and the eternal, is to individualize infinite power; and this is Christian Science."
The human self is not shut out from God, not disconnected from Deity, as obedience to the divine will shows. Spiritual sense unites us to the Father at all times. What higher purpose can we entertain than the determination to individualize the power of God that overcomes mortality and its evil accompaniments? We can be assured of divine support when our purpose is allied to the divine will.
Paul said (Rom. 8:28), "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." There is great satisfaction in realizing that God has called every identity to a definite purpose; that each of us must prove his place, his activity, in God's spiritual universe; and that the desire to do this must be kept fresh moment by moment.
If evil, or mortal mind, attempts to frustrate one's good purpose, to interpose personal obstructions, or even disease, in its effort to prevent one's spiritual progress, one must watch that he does not respond to such interference by resenting it or by rebelling against it willfully. The problem is not a personal situation but a scientific challenge, and it must be solved quietly and humbly through the truth.
One who deeply desires to devote his life to the healing practice of Christian Science will be able to see through the machinations of the carnal mind that would interfere with spiritual purpose and to reduce those evil designs to the nothingness that they are. Rebelling against the injustice of sin, sickness, and death by scientific methods, one will find every obstruction to his honest efforts vanish. True purpose and divine direction will bring success.
An ill-defined purpose is apt to get one into trouble. When he was angered by the sight of an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew and then slew the offender, Moses soon had to run for his own life. His sense of justice was strong, but his purpose to overcome injustice was undisciplined. When he returned to Egypt after forty years in the land of Midian, his purpose had become enlightened and defined by conscious communion with God. His understanding of justice was then so mature in wisdom and courage that he was able to lead the Hebrews out of bondage.
After this, the great Lawgiver's purpose did not waver. He knew what he was doing. Working in unity with the divine will. Moses practiced self-immolation in his devotion to God's will, His law; he was immersed in his great purpose. His contribution to the freedom of the human race from bondage to the lawless carnal mind can scarcely be fathomed.
The scientific fact that God supports the right purpose which He impels can always be proved. One can always rely upon the omnipotent Principle that reveals a right purpose to aid one in carrying it out to its full implementation. Humility, not human will, brings to right purpose wisdom and intelligence; and these provide direction that never errs.
The simple intention to live a pure and helpful human existence in one's little sphere of activity defines a high purpose to follow. A broader effort to contribute toward making our planet a decent and safe place in which men can progress peacefully defines an even higher purpose. But the determination to devote one's life through spiritual love to the practice of Christian Science, to break down the bonds that hold people imprisoned in states of sin and disease and the fear of death, defines the highest purpose of all. Jesus pointed the practical way to victory when he said (John 15: 13), "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
