Inner Discipline and Mercy
Deuteronomy 25:2-3 - A Neville Goddard interpretation
Read Deuteronomy 25 in context
Scripture Focus
Biblical Context
A judge may punish a wicked man, up to forty stripes, to keep the correction measured and not degrade the offender or the community.
Neville's Inner Vision
Within the inner life, the 'wicked man' is a belief or habit I entertain as a state of consciousness. The 'judge' is the I AM, the inner lawgiver who corrects without destroying. Forty stripes symbolize a proportionate correction—enough to realign the mind, but not so much as to crush the self or my brother in consciousness. When condemnation rises, I imagine laying the belief down and applying a fixed, compassionate revision, then refuse to exceed that limit and return to the feeling of oneness. The act of 'beating' becomes a practice of revision: I remove the false idea, replace it with the truth I am, and let mercy do its work. Justice is mercy endorsed by imagination; judgment becomes the discipline that keeps my inner kingdom intact while transforming the condemned thought into a new, harmonious state.
Practice This Now
Close your eyes and act as the inner judge: I AM the law; you are corrected, not condemned. Visualize applying a measured correction to a stubborn belief, then feel the relief of mercy restoring wholeness.
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