Take Me Deeper - Week 4!

The end of February! How did that happen?!! Without further ado here are my thoughts, the readings I was led to, and my piece for Take Me deeper this week!

February Wk 4
I wasn't at all sure about this one for some reason but my eldest (18) said she loved it so am keeping it!

2 Cor. 5:19 - God,through Christ, is making the whole human race his friends. I found some commentary:

- we are to be reconciled to God - i.e. to accept what God has already achieved - it is not that we must reconcile ourselves.
Through Christ we truly assume his righteousness, just as Christ assumed our sin.
I read that in Paul's writings, God is always the reconciler. This is the reverse of Hellenistic religion where the human seeks restoration of God's favour, and also of Judaism, where confession of sin and repentance are the means by which reconciliation with God is sought. The initiative now is with God, who changes a relationship of enmity to friendship. This is accomplished through Christ.
not sure if I was going off on a bit of a tangent there, and being Catholic, that commentary gave me pause for thought as growing up I've heard a lot of the need for confession of sin and for repentance...ie everything coming from the human.

So I continued on and searched for what the Bible says about loving yourself.
1 John 3:1 - See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (That last sentence really jumped out at me but I felt it was for another time to concentrate on that).
Psalm 139:13-14 - You created every part of, you put me together in my mother's womb. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
Phil. 1:6 - And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
John 15:9 - As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
Romans 8:16 - God's Spirit, joining himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children.
1 John 4:4 - Little children, you are from God...he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
Genesis 1:26 - And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness...
Psalms 103:12 - As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Reading all the above, my image represents God sending out into the world all of us, His children. Transformed children, (hence keeping the butterflies from the January prompts), thanks to everything God has done for us (see above quotes). I wanted to give a nod towards the theme of creation (God creating us, the world, love, and so used some stars and a bit of a bursting forth theme also to represent that. The 'wind' of the Spirit is still in there, as are the rays of light, among each other, as friends (see above quote).

Basically, it all seems to be summed up as loving yourself is being thankful and appreciating the person whom God has made in you.
TFL!
Bernie x
Hands are a brush from SpiritSigh @ DeviantArt, and the rest was created with CU brushes