{"id":2703,"date":"2014-08-02T08:05:15","date_gmt":"2014-08-02T12:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/?p=2703"},"modified":"2016-10-19T09:15:23","modified_gmt":"2016-10-19T13:15:23","slug":"does-god-give-approval","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/2014\/08\/does-god-give-approval.html","title":{"rendered":"Does God give approval?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Working as a news reporter, it becomes obvious that some stories can almost paralyze readers. I too have been guilty of letting my thoughts become paralyzed, not only with a particular news event but also with beliefs. Time and effort is spent rehashing a belief and paralysis sets in.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s take the belief of God\u2019s disapproval. This belief can be paralyzing.<\/p>\n<p>In my study of divine Science, I\u2019m learning God doesn\u2019t have the human trait of disapproving or approving. Divine Science interprets a God of Love and Truth, satisfied with its creation. When a mind approves of its manifestation, there is no room for disapproval.<\/p>\n<p>Why do I humanly feel disapproval?<\/p>\n<p>If I\u2019m not treating others how I\u2019d rather not be treated, I will feel disapproval, but it\u2019s not from God, it\u2019s from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/2013\/03\/emotional-affairs-stab-happiness-in-the-back.html\">the behavior of not <\/a>treating others as I\u2019d like to be treated. Behavior counter to spiritual truth comes mixed with dissatisfaction.<\/p>\n<p>If I treat others how I\u2019d like to be treated, I feel approval.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I wouldn\u2019t go so far as to say there is some humanlike God giving approval, because God is divine Spirit, manifesting support, praise, and appreciation nonstop. When in line with God, the result is a feeling of approval to the human sense.<\/p>\n<p>The result is freeing and encourages me to stop letting my thoughts become paralyzed.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/2013\/09\/making-a-good-god-a-reality.html\"> God is<\/a> divine Mind, all-knowing, in agreement with every thought revealed.<\/p>\n<p>I can reflect this spiritual truth, dismiss the paralyzing belief of approval and disapproval, and move on in life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. <sup>2\u00a0<\/sup>And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, \u201cTake heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.\u201d <sup>3\u00a0<\/sup>And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, \u201cThis man is blaspheming.\u201d <sup>4\u00a0<\/sup>But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, \u201cWhy do you think evil in your hearts? <sup>5\u00a0<\/sup>For which is easier, to say, \u2018Your sins are forgiven,\u2019 or to say, \u2018Rise and walk\u2019? <sup>6\u00a0<\/sup>But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins\u201d\u2014he then said to the paralytic\u2014\u201cRise, pick up your bed and go home.\u201d <sup>7\u00a0<\/sup>And he rose and went home. <sup>8\u00a0<\/sup>When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.\u201d (Matt. 9, English Standard Version)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Working as a news reporter, it becomes obvious that some stories can almost paralyze readers. I too have been guilty of letting my thoughts become paralyzed, not only with a particular news event but also with beliefs. Time and effort is spent rehashing a belief and paralysis sets in. Let\u2019s take the belief of God\u2019s&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":429,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,8],"tags":[1103,1442,1440,1441],"class_list":["post-2703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community_world","category-religion","tag-changing-religons","tag-god-and-behavior","tag-honest-to-god","tag-news-writing"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Does God give approval? - Everyday Spirituality<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/2014\/08\/does-god-give-approval.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Does God give approval? - Everyday Spirituality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Working as a news reporter, it becomes obvious that some stories can almost paralyze readers. I too have been guilty of letting my thoughts become paralyzed, not only with a particular news event but also with beliefs. Time and effort is spent rehashing a belief and paralysis sets in. 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Let\u2019s take the belief of God\u2019s&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/2014\/08\/does-god-give-approval.html","og_site_name":"Everyday Spirituality","article_published_time":"2014-08-02T12:05:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-10-19T13:15:23+00:00","author":"Cheryl Petersen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@cherylpetersen","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/2014\/08\/does-god-give-approval.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/2014\/08\/does-god-give-approval.html","name":"Does God give approval? - Everyday Spirituality","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-08-02T12:05:15+00:00","dateModified":"2016-10-19T13:15:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/#\/schema\/person\/5f61c15bc03b38172723cefb1475d1bb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/2014\/08\/does-god-give-approval.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/2014\/08\/does-god-give-approval.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/2014\/08\/does-god-give-approval.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Does God give approval?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/","name":"Everyday Spirituality","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Cheryl Petersen","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/everydayspirituality\/#\/schema\/person\/5f61c15bc03b38172723cefb1475d1bb","name":"Cheryl Petersen","description":"Cheryl Petersen engages and advances divine Science, interpreting harmony to the universe. 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