I want to be sanctified.
I don't want to look the same tomorrow as I do right now.
I want to look more like Jesus tomorrow than I do today.
But... I don't want to go through the process. I fear the fire and heat of sanctification.
I want the end goal of sanctification but I don't want actual sanctification.
The problem with wanting to look more like Jesus tomorrow than I do today, without wanting sanctification, is that it is completely impossible. What I am starting to realize is that I will look more like Jesus tomorrow because of what I do today.
So... me and sanctification are fighting. And unfortunately for me, more times than not, I am winning.
I have struggled (or used as an excuse) with thinking that if I am striving for holiness then I must be working for my salvation... however, this is not the case. There are too many to count verses in the New Testament that spur us on to pursue our own sanctification for that excuse to stand true.
Before I go any further hear me out on something very important: If you are a believer of Jesus Christ and you have trusted Him as your Lord and Savior then YES, your sins have already been cancelled. Fab Sharford says this,
"The Cross doesn’t make the battle for holiness superlative, it makes it possible. It guarantees success."
On this Cross, Jesus bought or purchased for us a new heart that is now governed by the Holy Spirit. We are now new creations and we are submitting ourselves, our whole selves, to a God who is in the business of destroying sin. This should mean that we too, are in the business of killing sin.
I believe now more than ever, that pursuing holiness and sanctification for a believer is not optional.
You will not be perfect. You will fail. I will fail. I do fail. My prayer though is that I will stop letting that be an excuse. I pray that I will remember my identity that Christ has given me, and that I will start to believe Him when He says that He has given me everything I need for godliness.
So may it be known that I am tired of fighting sanctification. I am tired of winning.
Sanctification, I am forfeiting. I pray that today and every day from here on out that you will win in my life. I pray that I will not run away from you but that I will let my God use you to wreck my life, the one that I don't own.
I am done fighting you and I am ready to fight sin.
So... I am in the business of killing sin now. Trusting that my Jesus is leading my every step and providing me with strength and purpose with every breath I take.
