God’s love absolutely amazes me. The fact that God speaks to us in the first place is absolutely mind-boggling. But, then, to think that God speaks to us–frail, flawed and finite human beings–in respectful ways, is really beyond my grasp.

And in His love, God constantly seeks us out, even when we continually turn away. God knows that the very best thing for everyone of us is to be in a love relationship with Him. And God does–and has done–everything possible to give us the very best He has to offer. He has given us Jesus.

Love is not rude, Love is not self-seeking   I Corinthians 13:5

Personal Reflections from Sylane:                                                                           Love is not rude, Love is not self-seeking.

God’s loving ways and thoughts are far higher and deeper than ours.  God is the Sovereign Authority over all there is–and certainly our Superior. Yet our God speaks to us, intimately and with great respect, through His Holy Scriptures and through His Holy Spirit.

Even when God must confront us, in clear and strong ways, about our wrong behavior and tell us hard truths about ourselves–God is never rude.

Love is not rude, Love is not self-seeking.

But what about my tone? My words? My attitude? What does being bitingly sarcastic and rude have do with LOVE? Let me give you a hint: NOTHING!

Rudeness comes from an attitude of self-deluding over-importance and entitlement. We get all rude and uppity when someone dares to cut in front us–in a line, in our car, in our life–in any way. 

Our tone turns sarcastic when others in our world dare to turn their attention to things other than meeting our very important needs. (Even if we never told them what those needs of ours were in the first place!)

Love is not rude, Love is not self-seeking.

 Self-seeking attitudes and behaviors equally have NOTHING to do with LOVE!

The ego-warped thinking of: What have you done for ME lately?–OR–What will I get out of you that will be good for ME?–is a poisonous, self-centered attitude that gives birth to all kinds of relationship killing behaviors. Manipulation. Shaming. Using. Abusing. Disregarding. Disrespecting.

In this thinking, there is no seeking for the other’s very best. No seeking for the other one to know love or to feel loved.

Lust and Covetousness are the real names for the self-seeking attitude of: I want what I want, when I want it, and how I want it. There is only ME. There is no other.

Love is not rude, Love is not self-seeking.

God’s love always seeks the other out. God’s love seeks us out, even when we are only seeking for ourselves. 

God does not need us to fulfill something that He lacks. There is nothing lacking in God. But, oh, God wants us…and God wants to give us the full joy of being in an intimate love relationship with Him. God always seeks us…and seeks to give us His best.

Love is not rude, Love is not self-seeking.

May we each choose to speak in loving tones and act in attitudes of respect. May we each seek to give others our very best–as we consider what is truly best for them.

THIS IS LOVE.

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

God’s love is powerful beyond our comprehension. God’s love has no limits.  It has no bounds. Yet in the fullness of its strength, God’s love is humble–reaching into the lives and hearts of the children of His creation.  True love has no need to boast or act in prideful ways. True love’s amazing power is self-evident not self-aggrandizing.

Love does not boast, Love is not proud.  I Corinthians 13:4

Personal Reflections from Sylane:                                                                           Love does not boast, Love is not proud.

God’s love does not ask us to put ourselves down. God actually calls us to love ourselves. According to God’s good way and true word, we are to love God and love others as we love ourselves. But our true love–for God, for others and for self–is to be completely void of any and all self-important boasting and self-focused or self-righteous pride.

Love does not boast, Love is not proud.                                                                True love lifts up the other. Builds up the other. Encourages the other. Strengthens the other. 

About five or six years ago, my husband Tim and I were asked to speak at a couple of sessions for The Marriage Course that our home church offered. We were so thankful to do this and share what God has done–and continues to do–in our marriage. But it really made us step-back and analyze what it really is that has made our marriage what it is.

Absolutely, the over-arching answer is LOVE. God is our first love; we are each other’s second love. This is the all-emcompassing foundation and fortress for our marriage–for our friendship, our living as lovers, partners and parents.

But as we really dug into what has made this marriage work, our answer is this: Humility.

HUH??? Yes, humility. Not boasting. Not pride. Not selfishly-focused thinking nor selfishly-demanding behaviors (at least not too often!)

True love knows that humility is a powerful and strengthening force in any relationship. There is nothing weak in true humility. It is one of God’s most powerful weapons against everything that would destroy love relationships.

Love does not boast, Love is not proud.

Doesn’t it make sense that humility–not boasting, not prideful actions–is what truly builds a marriage, or any relationship, in amazing ways? Think about it: God’s fullest revelation of love came through the absolute, extravagant humility of Jesus Christ.

Jesus humbled Himself and submitted His will to do what the Father, whom He loved so much, wanted Him to do.

Jesus humbled Himself and submitted His will to His ABBA so that all the children of God’s creation would know the boundless love of their Heavenly Father.

Through the humility of Jesus our enslavement to sin and the power of death were crushed and conquered for all eternity. There is no weakness in humility.

Love does not boast, Love is not proud.

We each need to yield ourselves to the power of love. We need to humble ourselves before those we love. All forms of boasting, all expressions of selfish pride are deadly to all relationships.

Humility is the expression of true LOVE that is strong enough…

to be real and authentic–without any puffed-up presentation of self…

to admit sin and shame, failure and frailty…

to ask for forgiveness…

to offer forgiveness…

to ask the other for help…

to set aside the need to always be right…

to acknowledge when the other is right…

to seek to understand the other’s perspective…

to build up, encourage and celebrate the other.

Love does not boast, Love is not proud. 

It just isn’t necessary. The extravagant humility and self-sacrificing love of Jesus prove this. And God offers us His same power to love others as He loves us.

True LOVE is strong enough to be humble.

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

God’s love is able to fill the very deepest needs and most persistent longings of our hearts and lives. And it is God’s love that not only is able to fill these deep needs and longings, but it is only God’s love that ever will fill them completely.

We need to stop seeking from any source other than God’s love to have our needs and longings met. Because if we don’t, an attitude of envy will grow up and fill us instead with bitterness, resentment and disappointment.

Love does not envy.  I Corinthians 13:4

Personal Reflections from Sylane:                                                                           Love does not envy.

And in the presence of God’s love–there cannot be anything to envy. Nothing. Nothing fulfills us like God’s love.

But sadly, we don’t always allow God’s love–and the good gifts God has provided through His love–to really do what they were meant to do: fill us with deep satisfaction, contentment and thankfulness.

Love does not envy.

Envy takes a firm claw-like-hold on us whenever we look to other people, other things or other circumstances–anything other than God–to be the source for our happiness and our reasons for thankfulness.

Whenever we crave what else there is out there we become jealous and envious and lose all sight of the truth of God’s love.  

Love does not envy.

Envy feeds on twisted lies of dissatisfaction and ungratefulness: 

We want that something we don’t have,

we want that something that somebody else does have,

that different circumstance,

that different job,

that different title,

that different home,

that different car,

that different personality,

that different ability,

that different body,

that different father,

that different mother,

that different husband,

that different wife,

that different child,

that different life!

Love does not envy.

Envy shuts us away from God–and we no longer can see the truth of His love for us. Too many disappointments and resentments over what we don’t have cloud our view. But others can clearly view the ugly, greedy, jealous, satisfied-with-nothing attitudes that ENVY spews from us.

That is NOT the way love does it!

Love does not envy.

Envy keeps us from truly acknowledging and thanking God as the One who has given us all we need to satisfy our souls…as the One who has given us our very breath…and as the One who cut off the breath of His Son Jesus in order to forgive our sins and give us eternal life.

That IS the way love does it!

Love does not envy.

We need to look around. Not at anyone else. Just look around at our own circumstances and our own relationships.

We need to love the way love does:

Take Nothing and No One for granted

Find a reason (even if it’s a small one) to thank God:

for all circumstances in your life,

for all people in your life.

And thank them, too.

Give God thanks for who He is,

Give God thanks for all you have,

Give up  and get rid of all envy and bitterness

Be grateful…you will love more greatly.

All that we have, all that we are–are gifts from our God that come out of His soul-satisfying love for us.

We each need to let God’s love transform our minds so that envy and jealousy are crushed. We should no longer spew out envy onto those around us.

Rather, as God’s love transforms us we will flow more freely with a heart of thankfulness and appreciation to both God and to others. All those others in our lives who, like us, need God’s love to fill the deepest needs and longings of their souls, too. 

Love does not envy. 

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

Love is…the very power and nature of the Living God. And His love is patient and kind. It is for us to fully receive. It is for us to fully give.

Love is patient, Love is kind…I Corinthians 13:4

Personal Reflections from Sylane:                                                                           God’s love for us is patient and kind.

God’s love is so real. God’s knows exactly what we need for our own hearts to be healed, strengthened and transformed. We need God’s full and perfect love. 

It is God’s love that offers us the patient understanding and gentle kindness that our hearts cry out to receive. God’s patient and kind love holds us tenderly and securely in ways that soothe our souls and offers us a place of rest and sanctuary for our minds, bodies and spirits.

I didn’t know much about patience or kindness growing up. Snap judgments, a hard smack across the face, cruel criticisms, ugly words–and far uglier, abusive actions were what I knew most.

But what I lived and experienced does NOT change who God is or what God has for me. God loves me. God is patient and kind. God’s love is NOT limited in any way just because I didn’t know patience and kindness in my home growing up.

God’s Word is true. God’s love is true. And God’s love is patient and kind.

God’s patient and kind love is full of understanding and compassion for who I am…and my God loves me even though I am frail, flawed and finite.

God’s patient and kind love quiets me, slows me down, holds me safely, gently reaches into my soul, massages my heart and refreshes my spirit.

God’s patient and kind love embraces and encourages me with the pure love that comes from my ABBA. I am a very beloved child–a very beloved woman–of my Holy God. 

And my Holy God commands and empowers me to offer His patient and kind love to all those in my life. Yes, all. No matter what I have known or experienced from others.

God calls me–and every one of His children–to love others in such a way that they too will know the healing, strengthening, transforming truth of God’s patient and kind love for themselves. 

 In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

Okay! So we are to LOVE.

But what does real LOVE look like? God, again, makes that very clear.  And God gives us a very comprehensive overview of His view of LOVE.

Love is patient, Love is kind. Love does not envy, Love does not boast, Love is not proud. Love is not rude, Love is not self-seeking, Love is not easily angered, Love keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Love always protects, Love always trusts, Love always hopes,  Love always perseveres. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Personal Reflections from Sylane:                                                                           This beautiful passage has been quoted by many, many people over the years–believers and not-yet-believers–as a moving description of the essence of love. And that is what it is. This is what love looks like.

This is what God’s love looks like. This is how God loves us. But we are not just to be moved in our minds as we read and hear this description of what love looks like. We are to do something about it!

God wants His children to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus. God’s plan is to transform us within our deepest core so that we will love others like He does. We need to let God change us–deeply and daily–so we will actively and intentionally make choices in our words and actions that are truly lined up with God’s view of love!

In these few short verses, God has given us His characteristics of love, His actions of love and His promises of love. And God promises to empower each of us, His children, with His love.

So read the passage again–the Overview of Love–and get a good view of what love looks like…and what we will look like –speak like and act like–as we love others more like God.

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

What really matters to God? What really counts as God’s top priority for us as His children–as His people of faith? God gets right to it, and He schmushes (there’s that word again!) everything down for us. God’s Word speaks so clearly and concisely that we cannot deny or doubt God’s meaning.

What matters–what counts–to God is that we love. Is there anything unclear about that?

 The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Galatians 5:6b

Personal Reflections from Sylane:                                                                           Happy Valentine’s Day!

I know for some of you this is just a schmaltzy day that the card, candy, flower and jewelry industries have infused with advertising-steroids to make it bigger and more important. I’m not going to argue that point. But let’s put all that aside.

Happy Valentine’s Day! What is going to make this day count for you? Whether you have that someone special in your life or not right now? Whether or not that someone special–that is in your life now–has been acting all that special to you?

As a child of God we are given the answer for how to make Valentine’s Day count. Actually, God has given us the answer for how to make every day, every moment count. And it’s not convoluted or complicated. To live out our lives as a child of God–to live out our faith in Jesus Christ–the only thing that counts is love.

Real love. Really given. God has given us with His perfect, sacrificial, passionate, compassionate and everlasting love. God has given this to each of His children. And each one of us is to draw from God’s love–constantly and continually–as we interact with others. All others. Our special ones. Our more challenging ones.

We are called to love. Really love. Love is this only thing that counts to God. We shouldn’t waste any more time. We need to stop doing any and everything else that isn’t a true expression of love–no matter how entrenched in our not-so-loving habits we may have gotten. We need to get over ourselves and love those around us.

Make this day count for God…for yourself. Love others!

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

The power and tenderness of our Sovereign God are inseparable manifestations of the way He leads, protects and cares for His children. God’s absolute authority and compassionate gentleness are intricately interwoven together in His loving guardianship over our lives.

To know and experience God’s fullest love for us we must trust and accept both. We must yield to God’s rule and be cradled in God’s care. And it is here that we will know our greatest intimacy with our Sovereign LORD. What a safe and beautiful place to be.

See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and His arm rules for Him…He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young.  Isaiah 40:10-11

Personal Reflections from Sylane :

Just read the devotional again and maybe even one more time after that. Then choose to-moment by moment-keep yourself in that safe and beautiful place. Where God is your Sovereign Authority and your Intimate Abba.

In love, peace and purposeful passion,

Sylane

God knows how much we need His loving direction for our lives. Even when we don’t want it. So, God gets right to the nitty-gritty when telling us how we should act and think and how we should treat other people. Our LORD declares Himself as the One who has the authority to determine the righteous standards by which we should live, act and interact with others.

God does all this plain talk for our good-all for our very best. And God does this all out of His love for us.

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.  Leviticus 19:18

Personal Reflections from Sylane:                                                                           Can’t I get even a little bit of revenge? Even if they deserve it? No. None.

There is an enormous difference between God’s Justice and our sense of vengeance. We want that person to suffer like we have. And feel it now. Patience and seeking vengeance are incongruous for us.

Not so with God. We need to trust God and His righteous timing. God does NOT let sins go unpunished. To dismiss evil and wrong-doing is not a possibility for our God who is Holy and Just.  Conversely, our desire to get even, to get some pay-back, doesn’t usually have a whole lot of holiness going on. 

Only God is able see everything and everyone involved with perfect clarity and discernment. We can’t. Only God is able to justly judge the actual sin and the deep thoughts, motivations and circumstances of the one who sinned against us. We can’t. And we don’t even want to. We just want vengeance.

Vengeance is God’s, not ours. And God chose to impose all judgment against-and all punishment for-all sin onto His holy Son Jesus. For us to mete out vengeance based on our own very limited, self-focused perspective is a dangerous game of playing God.

Do you see why it is out of God’s love that He tells us not to seek revenge? Pay-back isn’t sweet. It’s a bitter mockery of the sacrifice Jesus made as the full punishment for sin…my sins, your sins-all sins.

 God’s love takes us further. We are not to even bear a grudge against another person. Even if it’s just inside our heads? Even if nobody else knows? Not even the person who hurt us? No. Never.

Bearing a grudge is like bearing a heavy stone wall cemented together by unforgiveness. We think we are entitled to this attitude because of the evil, hurtful things that were done to us. So we build and bear our grudge-wall.

That kind of thinking, however, is not entitlement.  It is absolute entrapment. If we keep bearing this grudge, the weight of it will crush us. Leaving us in a crumbled mess of bitterness and resentment.

 Do you see why it is out of God’s love that He tells us not to bear a grudge? We cannot bear a grudge and, at the same time, bear witness to the forgiveness we have received from Jesus Christ.

God’s love takes us further still. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Think about this. God loves us. And out of that love for all His children, God wants us to love others around us. All others. We are to love our neighbors as we should love ourselves. And we should love ourselves in truthful, caring, wise, health-bringing ways.

 Do you see why it is out of God’s love that He tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves? God knows that it is for our very best that our actions, thoughts and interactions with our neighbors and with ourselves are to be based on obeying God.  For our own peace and freedom-we must do things God’s way. And God’s way is always to love.

God’s directives are demanding, but they are always loving-in the furthest way possible.

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

 When I slow down enough to really let the Word of God and the character of God grab hold of my heart, it takes my breath away.

The love and faithfulness, the righteousness and justice of the LORD are real. They are eternal and available to us–every breathing moment of our lives.

We all need to slow down and let our Eternal God take our breath away. When we do, God will restore and refresh not only our breathing but our very lives.

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens,  your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. 

Psalm 36:5-6

Personal Reflections from Sylane:                                                                           Breathe. Really. Take a slow deep breath and stop rushing, working, planning, doing. Just breathe.

Breathe in the truth that you are more than what you do. Breathe in the truth that you are loved passionately, unfailingly by the Eternal Lord of all creation, all time and space–just because you are.

Pretty breath-taking to think about, isn’t it?

Let this take your breath away: God’s love reaches to the heavens. God’s faithfulness reaches to the skies. Think about the immeasurable expanse of the heavens–of the skies. No expert astronomer has yet been able to define their true limits. Package that thought to better understand God’s love for  you–and God’s faithfulness to you. The vast, unending beauty and wonder of the sun, the moon, the stars, the galaxies, the universe cannot be captured by mere words or human expression.

So it is with God’s love and faithfulness. God’s love and faithfulness have no limits. No boundary-lines exist. God’s love and faithfulness are eternal and unfailing and absolutely indescribable in beauty and wonder.

Let this take your breath away: God’s righteousness is like the mighty mountains. God’s righteousness is majestic, unwavering, immovable, clearly seen and known for what it is–for all who will look onto it. God’s righteousness is the Truth. Just because someone has not seen the Rockies or viewed the Alps does not mean that they do not exist. When they are seen–when they are looked upon–these mighty mountains absolutely dominate the panarama.

So it is with God’s righteousness. Our standards for, and perspectives on, what is right and good–are completely dwarfed in the presence of the mighty mountain of God’s righteousness. And it is upon God’s righteousness that we must always set our eyes. We must always allow God’s righteousness to dominate our lives.

Let this take your breath away: God’s justice is like the great deep. Our very existence is intricately tied the great deep–the waters of the world. The oceans bring nourishment and healing to many. Our harvests depend on the rains carried from their waters. The oceans unite and divide us–bringing together peoples within the earth’s land-masses while separating others by enormous, watery distances. The great deep is filled with life and mysteries that we have not even begun to understand.

So it is with God’s justice. God’s justice nourishes and heals us as we seek His ruling and ways–rather than our vigilante approach for all the wrongs and injustices we have suffered. God’s justice brings a harvest of true followers as we humble ourselves before His judgments–His loving authority. God’s justice will either unite us or divide us. We will either be God’s people–standing with Him, by His just judgment. Or we will not be God’s people, and will be separated from Him, by God’s same just judgment. God’s justice is far deeper than our thoughts can comprehend. God’s justice is full of life and mystery that is able to see beneath the surface and circumstances of our lives. God will always see us clearly, always judges us rightly because God’s justice is always based on His love, faithfulness and righteousness. 

Let that take your breath away. Now breathe. And give God thanks.

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane

God is One.

God has one over-arching purpose to be worked out in the lives of His children. We are  to be conformed to the image and likeness of God’s Holy Son Jesus. As we are, we will become more and more one person.  One with God.  One person–whether we are alone, with our beloved, with a a few or with many.  We are to become one authentic, loving, sincere person.

God is One. God is Love.

God refines us so that duplicity of character can no longer easily exist within us.  To be like Jesus, we must be transformed by His Spirit and His Word to love others as our One God loves–and that requires sincerity. 

Love must be sincere.  Romans 12:18

Personal Reflections from Sylane:                                                                           I am so thankful for every time God schmushes down (expresses succintly and right to the point–in case you weren’t sure of my meaning) what He wants us to do.

Well, God got right to the point here. God schmushed it all right down for us on this one:  Love must be sincere.

There is nothing to question. Nothing to debate. No great theological-philosophical rhetoric to work through in order to gain clarity of understanding. There is nothing to dispute, discuss or deliberate.

Love must be sincere.

No pretenses. No pre-conditions.

No arguments. No excuses. 

No games. No hypocrisy.

Just a wide-opened willingness to let the transforming grace and power of Jesus Christ heal us, strengthen us and grow us up so that we will love others–all others–as He loves us. In sincerity. In truth.

Love must be sincere. This is God’s One Way to Love.

In love, peace and purposeful passion,                                                               Sylane