Are you thinking of yourself as a mortal today? Don't do it! This would be denying your spiritual status as the son of God, Spirit. It would be accepting that man lives in a mortal body and is governed by a so-called mortal mind.
Actually, the real man is the idea, or expression, of divine Mind. To believe otherwise would impede our spiritual progress. If we find we are thinking of ourselves as mortals, we need to forgive ourselves by giving up the mortal concept for the spiritual idea. This kind of forgiving takes away the self-condemnation that comes from material living and replaces it with the true respect based on an understanding of God and His law. All we are really giving up in these cases is the misery that comes from thinking we are mortals. Mrs. Eddy explains, "Happiness consists in being and in doing good; only what God gives, and what we give ourselves and others through His tenure, confers happiness: conscious worth satisfies the hungry heart, and nothing else can." Message to The Mother Church for 1902, p. 17.
Certain passages in the Bible may convey the impression that God knows sin and forgives those who commit it. But these stem from writers in biblical times who used what was known to them, such as a tender, loving father who forgives his erring offspring, to describe what was unknown to the material senses—the absolute, perfect God, or the great I am. In reality, God never ceases to know His man—our true and only being—as spiritual and perfect. Christ Jesus' life and works of healing convey this concept and show how a correct understanding of God's forgiveness brings healing and regeneration to our lives.
