“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.” — Psalm 37:5-6 (ESV)
Sanctification
Sanctification and holiness are words that used to strike terror into my heart. As a believer, I have always tried to pursue holiness, and I always seem to fail. It seems like no matter what I do I can’t escape sin and can’t get past my own brokenness and mess. Even in seasons where I am experiencing freedom from some sins, there always seems to be something else I need to fix or get better at. I’ve felt like I was on this endless tightrope of spiritual development that I kept falling off of and of which I couldn’t seem to find the end.
While God’s heart is most definitely for our sanctification and holiness, His perspective is far different than what I just described. You see, God knows that sanctification doesn’t come about through our efforts. I can in no way sanctify myself because in and of myself I have no holiness. The truth God has for us today is simply this: Sanctification comes about by true relationship with our Heavenly Father alone. Holiness is the direct result of openly and continually encountering the nature of a perfect, loving and available God.
If we are going to experience the fruit of righteousness, we must learn to trust God in His plan for our sanctification. We must learn to trust that in encountering Him we will experience freedom from our sin and healing for the wounds that drive us to the things of the world.
Psalm 37:5-6 (ESV) says, “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.” When we trust God to bring about our righteousness by simply committing our way to Him and trusting in Him, we engage in a process of sanctification founded on encounters with His loving grace.
Sanctification is not meant to be this heady process of turmoil and striving that we so often experience. While it may be difficult, it is designed to be filled with the continually forgiving and loving heart of our good Father. It is designed to be based on experiencing Jesus that we might become more like Him.
Spend time today seeking the heart of your Heavenly Father. Commit your ways to Him and trust in Him. Ask Him to reveal His heart for your righteousness. Ask Him to guide you into a process of sanctification marked by His grace, love and nearness. Stop seeing the process of sanctification as a never-ending timeline and instead center it wholly around relationship with your Heavenly Father.
May you experience righteousness and holiness today as you encounter the perfect nature of Jesus. May your day be marked by peace as you commit your spiritual development to the hands of the Potter. And may you be transformed into the image of Jesus as you engage in the process of sanctification based on relationship with a good, near God.
— Craig Denison, First 15
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