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Question #6: Should I study for personal gain?

The concept of the end justifying the means is widely believed. According to this reasoning, what matters most is the end product, not how we get there. So cheating on a test is legitimate according to this model. However, from a spiritual perspective, the means are every bit as important as the end. In fact, the means determine the end.

How we do something to achieve a goal is all-important. That's where all real learning takes place. If we get an A on a report, but someone else wrote it, who learned something? The person who wrote it, not us. Don't we still need to learn the lesson that assignment was designed to teach us?

We may have a clearly defined goal in mind. When we set out to achieve that goal, a lot of things may come up to change our initial assumptions of how we should accomplish it, and even what the final result should be. But if we put all our integrity, all our creativity, all our unselfishness into it, all our... (you get the idea), the end result has to be wonderful.

Studying is like that. We may think we're studying to succeed in a particular career, to become famous, to make a lot of money, to find a spouse - all legitimate goals. But when we approach learning with all the eagerness and joy we can muster, we begin to find that learning becomes a joy in itself.

Learning becomes so rewarding and enriching that the original goals become more like by-products of the adventure of lifelong growth. Life is a classroom - often a demanding one, but inevitably rewarding and delightful. After all, this is God we're talking about who created the classroom, and the class! Our Father-Mother is such a fascinating Teacher, an infinite resource of lessons. So buckle up, we're in for quite a ride!

King James Bible:
"There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel."
	Proverbs 20:15
"My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste: so shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off."
	Proverbs 24:13, 14
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy
"What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love and good deeds."
	p.4:3-5