Editorial February 19, 2018 Issue

The value of self-knowledge

Barbara Vining

Whether we realize it or not, how we think of ourselves has everything to do with our own well-being, as well as our capability to help others. The question is where to start to know ourselves so that we can know we are going in the right direction.

The letter of First John in The New Testament in Modern English by J. B. Phillips proclaims: “Here and now, my dear friends, we are God’s children” (3:2). “God’s children”! Wow! So, to gain true self-knowledge we can begin by learning that God is divine Love, our creator and loving Father-Mother—that we are made, loved, and maintained by Love as Love’s very own likeness. This approach keeps us from getting lost in the complexities of human ancestry, history, personality, and physicality and ending up with only fluctuating human opinions about ourselves.

God’s nature as infinite Spirit, all-embracing Love, immortal Life, all-knowing Mind, gracious Soul, just and merciful Principle, and eternal Truth never changes. And the true identity of every man, woman, and child includes the whole inexhaustible spectrum of spiritual qualities flowing from God—every one of them good, with not one single element of evil. That means that as we gain in knowledge of God’s true nature, we gain in true self-knowledge.

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Bible Lens—February 19–25, 2018