Behave: Be and Have

Helen Syski determines on a new pronunciation to remind herself that being a daughter of God is the source of all good doings.

“Behave!” My shout joined the echoes of parental voices through the centuries. Seeing the doings of my children can sometimes bring on a severe case of the why-whats, as in, why did he do that? What makes her think that is okay? Why would anyone ever do that? 

This is of course followed by the temptation to control. The tempter always wants me to lower my definition of motherhood to behavior-modification specialist or traffic director. 

Thankfully, Love makes motherhood more. In seeking to understand my children, I have to go to the invisible roots of the visible behavior and help them drink from the source of existence, that is, God’s Love for us.

Be, Have, Do 

At an Encounter Ministry Weekend School of Identity, Deacon Joe Cooley spoke of the Christian life as Be, Have, Do: 

Be a child of God. 

Have all the graces and power that comes from that gift. 

Do life. 

God adopted me as His daughter at my Baptism. This means closeness to God, intimacy with God, and the grace to be holy are mine by right through the righteousness of Christ. The power to bring His kingdom to this earth are already mine. I have these things because I am His daughter. Nothing I do can break His promises; I am and always will have this position. 

When I live from this place, His healing and love can pour out of me onto others. My doings are free: healthfully detached and at the same time beautifully connected to others. Behaving flows without thinking when we are being and having.

The Lie: Do, Have, Be 

The lie that the devil is always after me to believe is that what I do dictates what I have and who I am. This inversion keeps me labeling myself and others by our actions and sins. It keeps me identifying myself with all sorts of things that are not my daughtership to the one true God. It keeps me convinced that I have NOT, and that my lack is because of these doings. 

When I believe that lie, it brings anger, envy, fear and despair. Worst of all, it blinds me to the fact that I am in God’s arms. 

The irony is that, like Eve, I am being tempted to take for myself through rebellion precisely what I already have: likeness to God.

Be-have 

It’s time to pronounce behave a new way: “be-have,” enunciated like the two separate words. This will help me live from my daughtership to the Father. Remembering I am made in His likeness and already have His love and grace and power will shift my prayer from begging for help in unbelief to an awareness of what I already have: everything, in my Father’s arms.

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Copyright 2026 Helen Syski
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