There is an account in the Bible about a centurion who entreated Christ Jesus to heal his servant. When Jesus said he would go with him to the sick man, the centurion told him it was not necessary. He believed Jesus had the authority and power to heal, even when the Master was at a distance from the one needing help. His show of exceptional faith brought this assurance from the Master: "Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee." And the servant was healed "in the selfsame hour." Matt. 8:13.
On the surface, Jesus' words appear to give great power to a person's belief, as if merely believing something can make it so. Yet without spiritually solid reasoning to base one's belief upon, one is sure to find it unreliable, leading only to discouragement.
Perhaps the Biblical account reveals that Jesus responded not merely to the centurion's belief but to the man's understanding of the spiritual authority that Jesus exercised and the divine power that underlay his healing work. Since this power was demonstrated by Jesus whenever he went, the centurion's belief could be seen as based upon a solid, spiritual reality: the might of divine Truth to overturn any appearance of what is not true—in this case, disease. Thus, was it not possible that the centurion's understanding of God's omnipotence was a key component of his belief?
In the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy has this to say about belief: "The Hebrew and Greek words often translated belief differ somewhat in meaning from that conveyed by the English verb believe; they have more the significance of faith, understanding, trust, constancy, firmness. Hence the Scriptures often appear in our common version to approve and endorse belief, when they mean to enforce the necessity of understanding." Science and Health, p. 488.
Christ Jesus did not operate from the stand-point of mere human beliefs. As the textbook also says, "It is neither Science nor Truth which acts through blind belief, nor is it the human understanding of the divine healing Principle as manifested in Jesus, whose humble prayers were deep and conscientious protests of Truth,—of man's likeness to God and of man's unity with Truth and Love." Ibid., p. 12.
God is Spirit, and man is His spiritual likeness, forever at one with Spirit, with divine Mind, and with all the harmony that characterizes that Mind. Digesting such spiritual facts daily, we find materialistic views of creation gradually being replaced with a perception of the truth of being. As a result, our beliefs change for the better, and we experience greater harmony. Deceived less and less by the outward picture of things, we think and act more and more from the basis of spiritual understanding. Our spiritualized thinking places faith on a sure foundation, one that enables us to find genuine healing whenever discords appear in our experience.
The realization of God's, Spirit's, supreme government of the universe, including all the conditions of man, is the solid spiritual reality that must underpin our healing efforts. And this knowledge does not come from the human, false sense of mind. Man, as the spiritual image and likeness of God, reflects the divine Mind. This is the only true Mind of man, and as we yield to this Mind's knowing through prayer, spiritual reality is understood. Mind knows and understands; it does not merely believe. Whenever this spiritual sense of knowing breaks through erroneous, materialistic thinking, healing results.
It helps me to remember whose authority is behind all spiritual truth. It is God who is the creator, lawmaker, and supreme authority. Sometimes in sickness I remind myself that I am not the healer; rather, it is God, who has ordained the perfection of man and has forever excluded sickness from His harmonious creation. Disease and discord are entertained only by false, material sense of mind, when in fact God is the only Mind, and man's real selfhood is spiritual and flawless. The disease, or discord, has never touched his true, spiritual substance, has never had a place in his consciousness. God holds the substance of man intact, apart from material appearances. He keeps man in the realm of Spirit—safe, secure, and whole.
Spiritual understanding underlies genuine, lasting healing. A spiritually enlightened consciousness results in a change for the better, because it acknowledges and reflects in some degree the power of Truth itself, and Truth always has power over what is untrue. Growing in the understanding we need in order to heal more consistently is a worthy path to pursue; and with each healing, our confidence in Truth grows, right along with the good results.
