I’m blessed to be a member of a Cameroonian women’s ministry called Praying Brides” with the motto “From child of God to Bride of Christ”. This past week I was asked to join the team responsible for developing quarterly challenges and planning Praying Brides’ retreats. As my first task, I was to develop a challenge on a theme given to me by my friend Olivia Mukam who founded the women’s ministry. She said “so can we have a challenge that inspires us to practice biblical love for self and others in the ‘month of love’ and I was like: Cool! After a really bad dry spell having nothing to write/no zeal to write. I am truly ecstatic at the divine inspiration that birthed this challenge so I decided to share it with a wider audience via my blog. Here goes: Praying Brides Challenges us all TO KNOW LOVE & BE KNOWN AS LOVING more than ever over the course of 14 days spanning from the 13th to the 26th of February 2023.Our challenge has two parts; we’re challenged to KNOW LOVE (to experience self-love as God called us to) and be KNOWN AS LOVING (to reflect the love of God to our fellow man). Part One: KNOW LOVEAs per Jesus’s words, we would be keeping ALL the commandments if we but: “Love the Lord your God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength… and Love our neighbours as we love ourselves.”This suggests if we don’t love ourselves, we’ll not be able to love our neighbours, not be able to fulfil the commandments, nor live as God has called us to. So over the first 7 days of the challenge, we will *pray scripture* and practice acts of genuine and biblical self-love. Part Two: BE KNOWN AS LOVINGAnd John said, “If you do not love your [neighbour] whom you can see, how can you [claim to] love God whom you cannot see?”. In the second week, we challenge ourselves and others to exemplify Christ’s love so that we be known as His. For as scripture says: “… By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” (John 13:35).Are you in? Check out the details of the challenge below! I’ve made a nifty table to illustrate the underlying scripture of all we are challenging ourselves (and others) to do. The table also has a column which gives examples of how we can act on the challenge. These examples are just that- examples… You might have a different way to fulfil the challenges, don’t let the examples box you in. I’ll love to know if you like the challenge and if you decide to take it up, do drop a comment or tag PrayingBrides on IG if you do! THE CHALLENGE THE (UNDERLYING) SCRIPTURE(S) / SCRIPTURE(S) TO PRAY EXAMPLES OF ACTIONS TO DO (YOU CAN ADD YOURS) PART 1: KNOW LOVE Day 1- We challenge you to praise God for his Creation- You ” For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”Psalm 139:13-16 Write an abridged version of Psalm 139 that appreciates how God created you (if you don’t want to write it out, you can do a voice note or a video of yourself appreciating how God took his time to make you and all that which shows you are wonderfully made. Day 2- We challenge you to find God in you…assess and appreciate all the ways you reflect your maker and all the ways God is changing you/conforming you to be more like Christ… Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Draw a figure of yourself, do a before after of yourself and appreciate your progress and God’s ‘shaping’ work as the Potter He is. Day 3- We challenge you to show yourself the ‘highest form of love’- discipline Proverbs 25:28 – He that [hath] no rule over his own spirit [is like] a city [that is] broken down, [and] without walls. Proverbs 15:32 – He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding Commit at least one act of self-discipline today (telling yourself no to some indulgence you know would harm you, putting up boundaries for your eventual peace of mind… basically doing something that future you will thank you for And/Or Reach out to one person (or more) whom you can trust to give you critical feedback on how you can work on yourself- listen to them with an open heart and commit to working on what has been brought to your attention Day 4- We challenge you to get to know yourself Romans 7:15-24 “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the