Take a stand for health

It’s encouraging to learn in Christian Science that when symptoms of illness appear in the body, we can, with God’s help, reverse them and see them disappear. Just as a conscientious attorney disputes false claims against his or her client in court, we can dispute claims of the physical senses that argue for the reality of suffering.

With Christ, our divine advocate (see I John 2:1), at our side, we can stand up for our God-given right to health and be well.

Last winter, when some of the people I was spending time with were suffering from colds, I awoke one morning with similar symptoms. In situations like this, it may be tempting to think, “It’s my turn to suffer now.” But I didn’t want to suffer. So, rather than consent to what felt like an unstoppable illness, I took prayerful action against the symptoms, confident that I could reverse them with an understanding of my God-given right to unstoppable health.

My study and practice of Christian Science have shown me that my health as a child of God, Spirit, is never threatened. Common belief argues that germs cause disease, but metaphysics tells a different story. As Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, explains, “Disease is an image of thought externalized” (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 411).

In metaphysics, disease is understood to be fears and false beliefs objectified physically. The sensations of illness felt real to my physical sense, but illness is actually a temporal belief of a supposed mentality opposed to God. So these sensations can be faced fearlessly and neutralized with spiritual truth.

Christ Jesus promised his followers, “I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19).

Bacteria or a virus is not a threat. It’s the fears and beliefs associated with these terms that produce any effects. As those fears and beliefs are dissolved, any effects from them disappear, too.

In looking for divine direction in my prayers, I realized I was suffering from a latent fear related to the widely held belief that colds are contagious.

To reverse this belief and render it harmless, I found guidance in this instruction from Science and Health: “When the first symptoms of disease appear, dispute the testimony of the material senses with divine Science” (p. 390).

Divine Science is the knowledge of spiritual truth. It includes the understanding that God’s creation is spiritual – that each of us, as a child of God, Spirit, has health that is never affected by any belief about contagion or disease. This health is not variable. It is the permanent nature of our being.

To eliminate the cold symptoms I was feeling, I needed to accept Jesus’ promise “I give unto you power ... over all the power of the enemy.” And I needed to put Mrs. Eddy’s admonition to “dispute the testimony of the material senses with divine Science” into practice.

So when I heard the mental suggestion “Harmful germs are taking over your body,” I countered with the divine message that God is mightier than a germ. I knew that I had Christ, Truth, working on my behalf to neutralize any ill effects.

When the suggestion came that “it’s too late; the illness has already taken hold,” I responded with, “It’s never too late to be healthy.”

When I heard, “It’s too hard to pray and expect this cold to disappear,” I retorted, “It’s much easier to put in some extra effort now to stay spiritually minded and enjoy the peace it brings than to go along with false beliefs about disease and suffer their effects for any period of time.”

As I disputed every argument for suffering that came to my attention and silenced each with spiritual truth, I found heavenly calm. A couple of hours later, all symptoms were gone. I was fine – and grateful.

A few months later, I awoke one morning with the same symptoms. I put the same rules into practice that I had relied on before. The symptoms vanished quickly, and I was well.

If faced with symptoms of any disease, we can deal with them fearlessly and undo any hold they seem to have on our thought. We can silence discordant symptoms with truth, find our health safe and secure with God, and be well.

Adapted from an article published in the Feb. 10, 2025, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.