*ACIM Lesson 38: “There is nothing my holiness cannot do.”*

This lesson is one of the Course’s most powerful and radical ideas. It tells you that your true nature—your holiness—is not weak, small, or limited. It is the light of God in you, and from that light there is literally nothing that cannot be healed, undone, or transformed.

This is not about the personal self being magically powerful. It is about recognizing that you are not the small self at all. You are the holy Self God created, and that Self shares His power, His peace, and His love.

Let’s explore this deeply, but gently.

1. The Core Teaching

What does “my holiness” really mean?

In the Course, “holiness” does not mean moral perfection or religious piety. It means *wholeness*, innocence, and the shared purity of God’s Son. Your holiness is the simple fact that:

• You were created by Love.
• You remain as God created you.
• Nothing real can be threatened, and you are what is real.

Your holiness is not something you earn. It is what you are. You can deny it, cover it, run from it, but you cannot change it.

When the lesson says, “There is nothing my holiness cannot do,” it means:

• There is no illusion your holiness cannot undo.
• There is no fear your holiness cannot dissolve.
• There is no guilt your holiness cannot wash away.
• There is no separation your holiness cannot heal.

Not because you as a person are powerful, but because your true Self is joined with God. Your holiness is the bridge between your experience here and the reality of Heaven.

What is the ego trying to hide?

The ego’s entire “life” depends on you believing you are:

• A separate body
• Vulnerable and guilty
• Small, limited, and easily hurt

If you accept your holiness, the ego’s story collapses. So it tries to hide your holiness by:

1. *Convincing you that you are guilty.*

“Look what you’ve done. Look at your past. Look at your thoughts. You’re not holy.”

Guilt is the ego’s main weapon. If you feel guilty, you will not believe you are holy.

2. *Keeping your focus on the body.*

“You are your body. You are your pain, your age, your appearance, your fatigue.”

If you are only a body, you cannot be the limitless holiness this lesson describes.

3. *Telling you holiness is far away.*

“Maybe one day, after many lifetimes, or after you become very spiritual, then you’ll be holy.”

The ego always places holiness in the future, never now.

4. *Making holiness seem dangerous.*

“If you really accept your holiness, you’ll lose your individuality, your relationships, your pleasures.”

The ego whispers that holiness will cost you everything you value.

The ego is trying to hide a simple truth: *If you are holy, the separation never really happened.*

And if the separation never happened, the ego is nothing but a dream.

What is the Holy Spirit revealing?

The Holy Spirit gently reveals the opposite:

1. *Your holiness is already complete.*

You are not on a journey to become holy. You are on a journey to remember you are holy.

2. *Your holiness is shared.*

Your holiness is not private. It is the same holiness in every brother and sister. When you recognize it in yourself, you begin to see it in all.

3. *Your holiness is the answer to every problem.*

Not at the level of form, but at the level of mind. Every problem is some version of:

“I am separate, guilty, and alone.”

Your holiness answers:

“I am joined, innocent, and held in God.”

4. *Your holiness undoes fear.*

Fear cannot survive in the presence of remembered holiness. When you claim your holiness, you are inviting the Holy Spirit to reinterpret everything for you.

2. Applied to Daily Life

Let’s bring this down into very human situations.

Relationships

Imagine you’re in conflict with a partner, friend, or family member. You feel hurt, misunderstood, or angry. The ego’s story is:

“They did this to me. I am the victim. They are the problem.”

This lesson invites a different starting point:

• “My holiness is in me now, unchanged by anything they said or did.”
• “Their holiness is also untouched, regardless of their behavior.”
• “There is nothing my holiness cannot do, including healing this relationship in my mind.”

You might silently say:

“My holiness blesses you. My holiness joins with your holiness. Our shared holiness can undo this conflict.”

You may still need boundaries or honest conversations, but the inner ground shifts from attack and defense to shared innocence. That is where real healing begins.

Work and career

At work, you may feel stressed, inadequate, or pressured. The ego says:

• “You are your performance.”
• “You are your income.”
• “You are your status.”

This lesson offers a different identity:

• “I am holy, not because of what I do, but because of what I am.”
• “There is nothing my holiness cannot do, including bringing peace to this workplace, clarity to my decisions, and calm to my mind.”

You might pause before a meeting and say:

“My holiness blesses this meeting. My holiness blesses everyone here. My holiness can undo all fear and competition in my mind.”

You may still do your tasks, speak up, or make changes—but you do so from a deeper center, not from panic.

Illness and the body

Illness can feel like proof that you are weak and vulnerable. The ego says:

• “See? You are just a body, and bodies break.”
• “You are at the mercy of the world.”

The Course never asks you to deny symptoms. It asks you to question what they mean.

With this lesson, you might say:

• “My holiness is not in my body. My holiness is in my mind.”
• “There is nothing my holiness cannot do, including healing the fear, guilt, and belief in separation that underlie all sickness.”

This does not mean you must produce a physical miracle. It means you allow a *miracle in your perception*:

• Fear can be replaced with trust.
• Self-attack can be replaced with gentleness.
• Resentment can be replaced with forgiveness.

Sometimes the body improves; sometimes it does not. But the real healing is the release of fear and guilt. That is what your holiness can always do.

Anxiety and daily stress

When anxiety rises, it often comes from stories like:

• “I am not safe.”
• “I am alone.”
• “I can’t handle this.”

Your holiness answers each of these:

• “I am held in God’s Mind; I am safe at the level that truly matters.”
• “I am never alone; the Holy Spirit is with me.”
• “There is nothing my holiness cannot do, because it is not *my* personal power, but God’s Love in me.”

In a moment of anxiety, you might gently repeat:

“My holiness envelops everything I see.

There is nothing my holiness cannot do.”

You are not forcing the anxiety away. You are inviting a different Teacher into your mind.

3. Overcoming Resistance

Why might this lesson feel difficult?

You might feel:

• “This is too big. It can’t be true about *me*.”
• “If I were holy, I wouldn’t have these thoughts or habits.”
• “This sounds arrogant—who am I to say there is nothing my holiness cannot do?”

The Course understands this resistance. It comes from *deeply rooted self-concepts*:

• “I am guilty.”
• “I am flawed.”
• “I am small.”

To accept your holiness feels like letting go of a familiar identity, even if that identity is painful. The ego says:

“Better the misery you know than the Love you don’t understand.”

Gently addressing the fear of letting go

You are not being asked to:

• Pretend you are spiritually advanced.
• Deny your feelings.
• Force yourself to believe something you don’t.

You are simply being invited to *consider* that God’s idea of you is different from your own. To say:

“Maybe I am wrong about myself.

Maybe God is right.”

Holiness is not arrogance. Arrogance is the ego’s claim that it can define itself, separate from God.

True humility is accepting what God says about you:

• “You are My holy child.”
• “You are innocent.”
• “You are safe in Me.”

If this feels frightening, you can say:

“Holy Spirit, I am afraid of my holiness.

Please help me accept it gently, in a way I can handle.”

You are not alone in this. The Holy Spirit walks you step by step.

4. Today’s Practice (Lesson 38)

Here is a simple way to practice this lesson today, in line with the Course’s instructions:

1. Short quiet periods (3–4 times, or more if you like)

• Sit quietly, close your eyes if you wish.
• Slowly repeat:

*“There is nothing my holiness cannot do.”*

• Let the words sink in. Don’t strain to believe them; just let them be present in your mind.

Then, as the Workbook suggests, *apply the idea to specific situations* that trouble you. For example:

• “There is nothing my holiness cannot do because of the separation.”
• “There is nothing my holiness cannot do because of this conflict with [name].”
• “There is nothing my holiness cannot do because of this fear about money.”
• “There is nothing my holiness cannot do because of this pain in my body.”

You are not asked to fix these situations. You are asked to *offer them* to your holiness, to the Holy Spirit in you.

2. Frequent, brief reminders during the day

Several times an hour, if you can remember, say silently:

• “There is nothing my holiness cannot do.”

Or:

• “My holiness blesses this moment.”
• “My holiness blesses this person.”
• “My holiness blesses this situation.”

Let it be gentle, almost like a soft background music in your mind.

3. When upset or afraid

Whenever you feel anxiety, anger, sadness, or guilt:

1. Pause.

2. Acknowledge the feeling: “I feel afraid (or angry, sad, etc.).”

3. Then say:

*“There is nothing my holiness cannot do.”*

“My holiness can undo this fear.”

You don’t need to feel an instant shift. You are planting seeds in the mind. The Holy Spirit uses your willingness.

5. Comparable ACIM Lessons

This lesson is closely connected to several others:

• **Lesson 35: “My mind is part of God’s. I am very holy.”**

Establishes the basic fact of your holiness.

• **Lesson 37: “My holiness blesses the world.”**

Shows that your holiness is not private; it extends and blesses.

• **Lesson 39: “My holiness is my salvation.”**

Follows directly, explaining that your holiness is the answer to every problem you think you have.

• **Lesson 40: “I am blessed as a Son of God.”**

Reinforces the identity that makes Lesson 38 possible.

Together, these lessons are training you to shift your identity from the ego’s small self to the holy Self God created.

6. Closing Thought

You do not have to feel holy to be holy. Your feelings will catch up as your mind gently opens to the truth.

For today, it is enough to whisper:

“There is nothing my holiness cannot do.

Even my disbelief can be healed by my holiness.”

Let this be a day of quiet willingness. You are far more than you think you are, and you are not walking this path alone.