Do you ever get frustrated with yourself?  You may have thought you had that particular issue handled and then you blow it again…and again…and, yes, again.  I sure do.  Sometimes I wonder if I’m ever going to get it right.  But I have to remember that sanctification is a process.  One that will take a lifetime. 

I have to remember that I won’t ever “arrive”.

What is sanctification?

So, what is sanctification?  Look it up online and you might find this definition:

“to make holy; set apart as sacred; consecrate. to purify or free from sin”

AllAboutFollowingJesus.Org includes this in the conversation on sanctification:

“Sanctification can be described as an inward spiritual process whereby God brings about holiness and change in the life of a Christian by means of the Holy Spirit. The effects of living in a fallen world have harmed everybody differently. We all face different issues, struggle with sin, and past hurts of varying degrees, hindering our ability to live the life God desires for us. Once we accept Jesus Christ into our lives, the Holy Spirit enters our life to start a transformation process (progressive sanctification). He convicts us on areas that need to be changed, helping us to grow in holiness. We begin to view the world, people, and personal difficulties from a more biblical perspective.”

Basically, sanctification is a process by which we become set apart, holy, and more Christlike. (Don’t confuse it with being saved, referred to as justification.)  The Holy Spirit works in us to cleanse us from our sins and heal the hurts that we have experienced.  He starts the process of changing us into the person we were meant to be.

Actually, He does more than just clean us up.  He puts us back together again.  All those dents and cracks and breaks are weaved together into a beautiful masterpiece. 

Why does He bother?

But, why? Why does He go through all the effort?  What do you think? 

Immediately I go to His love for us. He loves us.  It would be cruel and unloving to leave us as He found us.  Honestly, most of us are just a mess.  We need work! And you know, our God is not cruel.  His love is perfect.  He wants the absolute best for us and has the ability to bring it about.  His love for us moves Him to heal us and set us apart.  Of course, we have to do our part. But ultimately, it is His love that puts the pieces back together again.

He wants us to be whole and He uses the process of sanctification to make it happen.

The second reason that comes to mind is that He has a plan for our lives which includes work for the kingdom.

2Timothy 2:21 says,

“Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”

Yes, God has work for you and me to do!  You have to admit, that’s pretty cool.  The God of all creation wants to use us to reach people for Him and to do good in our world. Think about it for a second.  It’s amazing that He chooses to use us…cracked, broken, and sinful as we tend to be…to do work for Him!

But He has to prepare us first.

So, He “sets us apart” and “purifies us” so that we can draw others to Christ.

It’s a process

Does it happen automatically?  No.  Sanctification is a process that begins when we come to Christ. It ends when we get to Heaven.

I didn’t become a Christian until I was 27 years old.  By that time, I had seen a lot, done a lot, and been hurt a lot.  The day after I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I didn’t wake up this sinless Christian woman who was completely healed from my past.  No.  I was a baby who needed to learn how to walk a different path.  I had a lot to deal with and a lot to work on.

Sometimes, I hear of people who accept Christ and then, “Bam!”, they no longer have a desire to do this or that.  I think this is rare. And yeah, that would have been nice.   Really nice actually.  But that certainly wasn’t me.  What I did feel growing inside of me was a desire to please God.  And even though I know God doesn’t have a body, the thought of making Him smile motivated me more than anything else.

He is in it for the long haul

It is a long and sometimes hard process.  Even now, after all this time, it still feels as if there are times when I take two steps up and one step back.  Or vice versa.  This cleansing process of making me into the person that God had in mind when He created me is not easy.  But it’s worth it.  And it’s definitely what I want.

It is comforting to know that He won’t leave me undone.  He’s in it for the long haul.

Philippians 1: 6 tells us this:

“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Although God sent the Holy Spirit to bring about these changes in me, I do have to participate.  I don’t get to sit on the sidelines, eat popcorn, and just cheer Him on.  There are things I need to do.

Confess our sins

1 John 1:9 tells us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

We need to be honest about our sin, with ourselves and with God.  He will forgive us if we ask Him.  And, He will cleanse us to make us righteous (through Christ).

Quiet time

Spending time in prayer and reading the Bible is essential…absolutely essential!  We will never, and I mean never, move forward in our walk with Christ without doing these two things.

2Timothy 3: 16-17 tells us:

^“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

We’ve got to have that “quiet time” with our Lord.

Fellowship

Spending time with and seeking advice from godly friends is helpful as well.  When we spend time with other believers, we are strengthened in our walk as well as encouraged.  We need our brothers and sisters in Christ to be present with us and hold us accountable.

You see, God never meant for us to try to transform ourselves by ourselves.  He has given us the tools that are required for the process of sanctification.  He has provided all we need.  But we do need to take advantage of them. 

My Grandpa

Don’t be discouraged and give up when you stumble and fall.  You’re going to mess up.  

When I was little and I would fall down, my Grandpa would tell me to get up, wipe the dirt off my knees, and try again. 

The same is basically true here…just an added step or two.  When we stumble and fall, while we are on our knees, let’s spend some time in prayer and ask for forgiveness.  Then, get up, wipe the dirt off our knees, and get back at it.  Take it one step at a time. 

That’s all you can handle anyway.

It may not be easy, but it is worth it.

And remember, this sanctification thing is a process!