Sanctification defined

And exactly what is sanctification? Leviticus 19:2 records God as saying “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” Paul similarly says in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification;” Sanctification is merely a big word for the process of becoming holy which is being like Christ. It’s our job, once we have accepted Jesus as our savior.

Leviticus 19:2 “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;

Sanctification’s threesome

Three things about sanctification. One, it’s a verb, an action. It’s something you do. Two, it’s a continual process, very much like breathing and eating. One good breath or one good meal doesn’t cut it. Three, it’s a goal no one can reach in their life. We can never be on par with Christ.

Pressing on

Paul says in Hebrews 6:1 to “press on to maturity.” Notice he doesn’t say “when you are mature.” To “press on,” is a continual thing. There is no suggestion of pausing or stopping to take a break. So the sanctification process is a continual thing for us.

Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

Examples of striving for holiness

Remember that the goal is to be like Christ. We can only reach for it but never fully attain it. Like the ancient sailors, before GPS, sailing toward the North Star. That star was impossible to reach but reaching for that goal got them sailing in the right direction.

So how do we even begin to reach such a lofty goal as being like Christ? Consider the example of the North Carolina lighthouses along the East Coast. Think of Christ being the top of the lighthouse. A fitting example, as John 8:12 records Jesus as saying “I am the Light of the world.”

John 8:12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

Think of sanctification being our process of getting to the top of the lighthouse. How do we get there? There are no elevators. We walk the spiral staircase inside each lighthouse one step at a time. Becoming sanctified is exactly like that. We become more like Christ one step at a time.

No need for New Year’s resolutions

The other reason I don’t need New Year’s resolutions? Because being sanctified is a one small step at a time process, not a once and done yearly activity.

Christlikeness characteristics

And what are characteristics of Christ we are supposed to be like? I found more than I could shake a stick at on the internet. So how about a shorter list we all may be familiar with? The fruit of the spirit. They are listed in Galatians 5:22–23. They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Galatians 5:22–24 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

We all have some amount of each of these characteristics. Sanctification is the process of increasing these characteristics in you. Taking a small step in the direction of increasing any one of these characteristics in your life will take you one step closer to being like Christ. That’s your goal, your North Star. So pick a fruit, any one, they are all good.

Getting started

And how do we increase these characteristics in our lives? There is a Chinese proverb that says “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” You may feel that you are a thousand miles from being like Christ, you may be right, but don’t let that stop you. To get there, you must take that first step in the right direction. A friend of mine once told me the hardest thing about his physical therapy after an accident was starting. If you are human, you will run into the same problem in working out your sanctification…starting. I don’t have any surefire advice other than bringing up Nike’s highly successful advertising campaign that said “Just do it.”

Encouragement when we fail

Don’t worry, when we falter on a particular step toward Christ’s likeness, we can take encouragement from Heather Dorniden, who in 2008 at the Minneapolis Big Ten Indoor Track Championships was running the 600-meter. That’s about a third of a mile. Which means it’s an all-out sprint to the finish. She was running ahead of the pack. A sure to win. On the second lap of the race, she tripped and fell. The other runners stepped over her and left her behind. She was out of the competition as the other runners went on to the finish. Undeterred, she got up, and got back in the race. When she caught up to the rear of the pack the crowd went wild. That in itself was a notable achievement. But she wasn’t done. She kept passing each of the runners until she passed the lead racer. She won the event by only inches at the finish line. What an example of not giving up in the face of failure. She is an encouragement to us for when we stumble at our goal of becoming like Christ. When we fail, get up and get back in the race.

Jesus rewards getting back up

Jesus seems only interested in us getting back up when we falter rather than upset that we stumbled in the first place. He proves this by saying in Matthew 16:18 that He will build His church on Peter, the rock, even though Peter denied Christ three times during His trial.

Matthew 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

If we continue to get up after each fumble, we will be able to say, as Paul did in 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Paul said this in spite of his failings. What a testament! I want to be able to say that, despite my many failings, as well. Maybe I will put it on my gravestone. Imagine someone walking by and reading that.

2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”

New Year’s resolution mindset

I don’t know about you, but the New Year’s resolution mindset just seems too much like a giant one-year step. Too big for me to do successfully. I’m going with small steps to Christlikeness.

As I said, “I don’t need no stink’n New Year’s resolutions!”**