A Course in Miracles Text Made Simple

To gain the most from A Course in Miracles Text Made Simple, we recommend that
you read the corresponding chapter and section in the Text of the Second or
Third Edition of A Course in Miracles published by the Foundation for Inner Peace.

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Chapter 6: The Lessons of Love

Section V-C: Be Vigilant Only for God and His Kingdom

Read ACIM Chapter 6, Section V. C. (pages 108-111)

What does Jesus mean by ‘the right use of judgment’?

This whole section is about right use of judgment. Judgment is inherent in the ego’s thought system of separation. It is the ego’s principal mechanism for making separation seem real. To “survive” in this world, we must constantly make judgments. We use judgment to decide whether or not to cross the street, about what to eat and what to wear or how to keep ourselves safe. In this world of separation the ego guides us to constantly judge and compare others with ourselves. All this reinforces the belief in separation.

The Holy Spirit was placed in our minds to teach us how to use judgment as a means to let go of the false belief in separation. “We said before that the Holy Spirit is evaluative, and must be. He sorts out the true from the false in your mind, and teaches you to judge every thought you allow to enter it in the light of what God put there.” (1:1-2)

How do we allow the Holy Spirit be the judge of everything?

This section makes a clear distinction about what the Holy Spirit teaches us to judge. We are to learn to judge the thoughts in our minds with the Holy Spirit as the judge. The Holy Spirit does not teach us to judge others. Our perceptions of others are simply a reflection of our thoughts. That is why we need to let the Holy Spirit purify our thoughts with His judgment. True perception of others will naturally follow.

If our thoughts are aligned with the ego, which is false, we will have false perceptions of separation. If our thoughts are aligned with the Holy Spirit, we will have true perceptions of oneness. So the Holy Spirit teaches us to be vigilant against the belief in separation and vigilant for the truth of the oneness of the Sonship. Jesus tells us, “I have already told you that you can be as vigilant against the ego as for it. This lesson teaches not only that you can be, but you must be [vigilant against the ego].” (4:2-3)

Our vigilance to hear the Holy Spirit’s judgment becomes our priority. His decisions are always to identify truth and reject error. As we learn to let Him judge everything on our behalf, He teaches us to be vigilant for the truth and reject what is false. This purifies our minds and frees us from the false thought system of separation. With the Holy Spirit’s lessons we remember that we are already included in the Kingdom of God’s one Love. It is only our belief that we are not in the Kingdom that we must exclude from our minds.

Through the Holy Spirit we learn to keep only the truth of God’s oneness in our mind. “The Holy Spirit will enable you to take this step, if you follow Him. Your vigilance is the sign that you want Him to guide you.” (10-2-3) We do this by stepping back from our own judgments and remembering not to decide anything on our own. We remember that on our own, we do not know. We remember to quiet the ego’s chatter and listen to the Guide Who brings us to the awareness of what is true. This is how we become vigilant only for God and His Kingdom.

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