Thursday, May 8, 2008

Sanctification

I need to remember that this process from becoming a believer to starting our eternity after death is called sanctification and it is not instant. Sometimes I wonder why I'm not better at some of the things I've spiritually been practicing for a couple, almost three decades.

Here's what wikipedia says about Sanctification:
The term denotes both inanimate objects set apart for special purposes (e.g. the Solomon's Temple vessels) and the change brought about by God in a believer at the point of salvation or justification which continues throughout their life and does not end until the believer reaches the afterlife, unless complete holiness is possible in their “vain” life on earth in the final days before the Second Coming of Christ.


In our instant-fix society, this long and grueling process is difficult to accept. I've been practicing patience for quite a few years now, and yet my children make me feel like I have none and never really had any to know how to use it if I did. Maybe it's not just patience, but also self-control. I don't think I need super Nanny to come over or anything like that, because I just need the Holy Spirit to come over my sin nature more. I know He will it's just....am I allowing Him? We have free access to the fruits of the Spirit and yet sometimes I feel like I'm like joy, what's joy?

I have recently started a routine with the girls on Sunday nights where we ask God to help us with one fruit of the Spirit each week. Then we go around in a circle and pray for the one to the left. It's been a fun thing to start even though the results are not quite clearly seen yet!

7 comments:

Chelle said...

Love this post! if you have not gone through Beth Moore's "Living Beyond Yourself: The fruits of the Spirit" study, you should check it out. It's incredible and really explains the fruits of the Spirit in wonderful ways!

Hope you are having a blessed day!!

Mimi said...

It is so true that the hard part about living life is that it is so DAILY!!! Great idea to do with the girls. Ashlyn told me that you were doing something with the fruit of the Spirit and you suggested she pick joy because of the verse she learned here for Bible study. Good job!!!

Mrs.Naz@BecomingMe said...

What a wonderful post. I am learning this too. And I love the idea about studying a different fruit of the spirit each week with your daughter. Beautiful idea and I am going to implement that one as well.

soonercolby said...

You are such an inspiration to me and I am so encouraged by your blog. God is using you as a mighty vessel! (Can I steal some of your ideas when we have our family?) :)

Stacey said...

I think that kneeling with the kids and asking God to protect our family and teach and enable us to be the parents, husband, wife...that we should be works into the the hearts of kids. Authority with humility...my kids seem to have more patience with US when we acknowledge before them and God that we need His help. Doing this before we address them has diffused many hard feelings in our home. I like your idea about the fruit of the Spirit! We all truly need Him to exhibit His fruit in us, or else, we fail.

Connie said...

Very cool idea with the girls. They will never forget those moments...

Karen Hossink said...

Oh, Rachel, I so understand you.
We wish for instant sanctification - a microwave/fast food version seems appealing, doesn't it?
But God will bring it about as we place ourselves under His refining touch.
I love the prayer activity you and the girls are doing. Keep it up!