Sanctification

Purification and sanctification have been on my mind lately, and I know exactly why. I had this urge to purge old photos and videos. For one, I never look at them, and, for two, if anyone else were to see them, they would be very concerned that I consider myself a godly woman. I view this deletion of memories as part of the never-ending sanctification process that the Lord has been leading me through. Although I suppose it is a good example of the big picture (no pun intended). If each photo represented a sin and each video represented a habit, God will take them, see that they don’t glorify Him, and delete them. He wants us to starve ourselves of the things we take pleasure in that absolutely do not serve Him well. “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’” – Matthew 16:24. By the way - He’s not doing this for the sole purpose of depriving us of any fun. He does this because time and time again, we prove that the things we do that don’t serve Him do not serve us at all either.

While going through all the memories that at the time, I thought would be held near and dear to my heart, I became very thankful that God has changed my heart completely. While the faces in the pictures often held smiles, I can remember how empty and worthless my life felt when they were taken. It’s hard to find words that explain the thoughts and feelings I’ve been having after re-experiencing things in hindsight. Being stronger in the Word has helped me see the path of destruction I was going down. There are so many feelings of disappointment for the girl who was ignorant of sin and living for the world. “To open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” – Acts 26:18. 

Becoming pure is a constant choice, and there seem to be temptations at every corner. I’ve learned that convictions are a blessing because it’s God’s way of telling us that we can be doing better. If conviction were the fire, our actions and changing our habits are the hands that are molding us into what God is calling us to. “But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” – Isaiah 64:8. Striving for perfection should be the goal, though unattainable, with the power of the Holy Spirit, we can stand confidently in the men and women that God is shaping us to be. 

For some people, sanctification is a lengthy process. That is how it’s been for me. I could confidently say that I’ve been on a purification journey for years, and the closer I get to the Lord, the more I’m in the Word, the more intense it is. The more I know about Jesus, the more I want to be like Him. For others, though, they are sanctified in one fell swoop. They accept Christ and they become abstinent, freed from drugs and alcohol, mental health, cussing, secular music, all of it- done with at once. For me, it started with removing drugs and alcohol from my life, then weirdly enough, my mental health got better (who could have guessed), and so on. There is no one-size-fits-all for sanctification. It simply is a gift, sometimes uncomfortable, but necessary, to be cleansed by the blood and made new in Him. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” – Galatians 2:20.

I can see God working in my past. It's so clear to me now that I'm in the present. I just know that I wouldn't have made it to today on my own. It had to have been Him. That makes me feel unbelievably grateful, and it's also reassuring because I know if He was working then, He is still working now. I have and still do struggle with sin, but God takes everything that was meant for evil and uses it for good. I think about how often sin and darkness have brought me closer to the Lord and led me more directly on His path for me. Without the sanctification and purification the Lord has given me, I would still be a dead woman walking.