Sanctification, or the lack thereof

Do you ever feel like the closer you get to the Lord, the more all of your imperfections shine through?

I do!

When I’m not in my word consistently, I think I am doing pretty good and am thinking pretty highly of myself, I can’t see where I am falling short! But when I am in my word like I should be, pursuing Jesus, doing my daily devos...the Word just GETS me! Do you know what I’m talking about? You read that scripture and it is so convicting. You know you’re not doing your best in that area or need to really improve in another area. You’re faced with the truth that you’ve fallen short (Romans 3:23).  

This is the beauty of a relationship with Jesus, though. He loves you right where you are; imperfections, failures, sin and all, but he loves you enough to call you to a higher place. Why? Because he intends for us to be like him; righteous, holy, loving, gentle, kind, forgiving, gracious, merciful, giving the benefit of the doubt. My flesh is not like this. When I’m walking closely with Jesus, my spirit grows strong and my flesh grows weaker, and I become more like him. Not perfect, not sinless, but more like him.

This my friends is the awesome process called sanctification that a believer walks through until the day Jesus come back. In John 17:18-19 Jesus says “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”

He intends for us to be sanctified! Ah Ha! This is why a light shines on all of areas of which I’m falling short in! He gave us fair warning of this in John 17!

This morning I was faced with the reality of how I treat and love people when I read Matthew 15:11 and 15: 18. “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth defiles a Man.” “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.”

Things I say or think about others that I shouldn't are an issue of my heart, not my mouth. Change my heart and my mouth/mind will follow. (Proverbs 4:22-23) (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Only Jesus can truly give me a heart for people. This can’t be conjured up on my own effort.

This is where self-help books start and finish—human effort. Our efforts, even our best intentions, will run out. Look at our world and its relationships—a vicious cycle of “I want to be nice. Okay I’ll be nice. Dang it, I ran out of nice.” “I want to forgive. Okay, I forgive you. Dang it, here’s that issue again, I didn’t really forgive you.”

Only Jesus can give me true love and grace for people that doesn't run out. I want his perspective of people. When I see people through my eyes, I see them incorrectly. When God gives me the heart to see people through his eyes, I am seeing them for who they truly are. And that is when I can love them and treat them right, the way the Lord would.

This goes for everyone in my life...Zach, my parents, my closest friends, my enemies, strangers. It's hardest with the closest sometimes because I know all of their faults and imperfections. But this is where I have the most opportunity to see past those things and into who they really are...this is what the Kingdom is all about. And this is what gives people the chance to become who they're supposed to be; when they have people treating them how Jesus would treat them so they can see Him through us.

Sometimes my flesh rules over my spirit and I fail at this. But I want to be this kind of person! And I have the opportunity to be this person every single day. It starts with getting in my Word, being reminded of who I AM in Christ, and in turn, being able to remind others who they are in Him by loving them and treating them the way the Lord would.

For these reasons, I am trying to embrace the process of sanctification on a daily basis.  I see my failures, my sin, the areas I fall short, and I ask Jesus to forgive me, to change me, to make me more like him.

Note: Above in the 4th paragraph I said that Jesus intends, not forces, us to be sanctified. You can say the prayer, confess your sin, believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, be saved, get a ticket to heaven, and be done with it…choose to not embrace the sanctification process. But, this is not what Jesus asked us to do.

So, what area of your heart and life does Jesus want to do some sanctifying in? Or, are you that person that has embraced the ticket to heaven, but rejected Jesus’ sanctification? Wherever you are, he’s waiting with open arms for you. I run into those open arms over and over again J