love

One voice is rising above the others in my heart, and that is my cry to be broken for God's people. I turn my eyes to Him, and in that moment my selfish desires disappear. All I want is to know His heart. When I'm confronted by truth, I just get stopped in my tracks.

Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow. - Psalm 144:4

What foolishness it is, when we make much of ourselves. When we live like the world only makes sense when it can fulfil our needs and our desires. We are only passing through. We live a lie, if we believe that our lives are all about us.

And what is the truth? The truth is that God loves us. In our lives we get so caught up with doing things and with going places, that we miss the fact that we were simply created to be loved by Him, and to love Him in return. What purpose did mankind ever have in and of itself? Our purpose isn't in or of ourselves, but it is in our Creator. He who created the earth, and placed the stars in the sky. He who masterminded sunsets and vast oceans, the scent of flowers, the sound of music. All these were created to reflect His glory, and so too were we created in the same way. What is yet more amazing about us, is that God - no one can fathom what He was thinking! - chose to fashion us in His own likeness. He created us to reflect Himself in an even more profound way.

So what are we doing here? We've all turned our backs on His purpose for us, and sought our own purposes. We look inwards at ourselves, and seek careers and relationships to fill our longings for acceptance and approval and intimacy. We are a creation that has caved in on itself - when we refuse to look to God, we choose to destroy our true worth in favour of lies. We're like a flower that refuses to grow toward the sun; it quickly fades, and wilts, and falls, and its true beauty is lost.

And now do we see what God intends for human relationships? Everything about who we are is simply meant to reflect His glory. Although in our stubborn pride we chose death, like the flower turned from the sun, and wilted and fell, God has paid a great price, that we may rise again. He loved us so much, that He took on the task of defeating death, that we might live. And by doing this He revealed Himself to us - fullness of truth and grace - He showed us what love is - and it is Himself. He is how we know what love is.

Our relationships - are not about us. Our own lives - are not about us. We were created to love, not for our own glory, but to reflect He who is love. When we love each other the way He loves us, we live out His purpose for us, for we bear the fullness of His image.

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. - 1 John 4:12

We must remember, that to choose to live for ourselves, is to choose death. Let us choose God!! In Him we will find life, and we will find ourselves - a full realisation of all we were created to be.