How can we apply the power of love in restoring health and building up of our bodies according to God's pattern? Let me give several suggestions.

First, forgive.

Love is naturally connected with forgiveness. It has been said that "love will cover a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8). And forgiveness should be willingly extended to all who needs it - including ourselves.

Quite often, when people are doing something wrong, there is an unconscious desire within them to punish themselves. Diseases and even accidents could be visible manifestations of such an attitude. What can we do if we suddenly find ourselves in this position? Apply forgiveness - as soon as possible.

Certainly, there is a law of divine justice which determines the harvest we reap from all of our actions. However, there is a higher law - the law of love. If we align ourselves with this law by releasing our mistakes and leaving them behind, trusting in the cleansing power of God's love, we don't need to suffer any more. From now on, we can rise up and walk in the newness of life.

So, freeing ourselves from negative memories of the past, guilt, and shame should be an essential part of our daily "mental house cleaning". Don't let any thought of self-hate, no matter how justified it seems to be, ever take root in your consciousness. We all do make mistakes. But God's love toward us is unconditional. So should be our love toward ourselves. Nothing we do will ever harm or diminish our inherent divinity and our status of God's beloved children.

Second, release.

"If you want to free yourself from all types of problems in mind, body, and affairs, you must release others to find their good in their own way", writes Catherine Ponder.

Selfish love (which is not love at all, essentially) wishes to possess, control, and manipulate. But genuine love honours freedom of others. Being free, it brings freedom. On another hand, those who seek to control and to bind people, will eventually find themselves in bondage. Often this bondage will come as sickness of some kind.

Do not hold on to people, and even to things. Possessiveness is a curse. Let go, and let divine good find you. There is only one basic reason why people are reluctant to let go - they don't believe in God's ability to support them, or God's willingness to do so. But spiritually enlightened persons know that there are no reasons for such doubts.

Let all our channels of inflow and outflow be open, and we will grow and develop as healthy and dynamic individuals, adjusted to whole Life.

Third, bless.

Blessing is the power of increase and unfoldment. If we are looking for better health, we won't obtain it through complaining about our sufferings and pains. The most effective way is to bless our body, invoking the power of increase. The Bible teaches that healing is a gradual process, and it "spring forth speedily" (Isaiah 58:8) when all conditions are observed.

In his pamphlet A Sure Remedy, Charles Fillmore writes:

"Bless your problem, whatever it be, with a thought something like this: "I now release you and bless you. Divine love is adjusting my life and its problems. Realizing this, I abide in peace". ...Every person who thus allies himself with the power of divine love creates a bit of heaven on earth".

When we bless ourselves, we are not asking for some influence from the outside to intervene. Spoken or silent words of blessing give us deeper awareness of God's indwelling presence in our bodies, which is brought into greater activity through affirmations.