Sanctification

It's hard to see my sanctification. Most days I feel like I've moved backwards, becoming less like Jesus. Regardless of how it seems, God is at work. I am being molded every day, by negative and positive influences. In retrospect, it is easy to see that I am being sanctified. In the moment, I'm terribly unaware of God's presence. I fill my life with things that de-sensitize me, distract me, and discourage me. But God is faithful to mold me and to equip me to fight the sin in my life.

{Desensitized} He reminds me that his standard is the same always, and that the pursuit of holiness is LIFE-GIVING. 

Proverbs...

3:22 "They (wisdom and discretion) will be life for your soul."

4:13, 22 "Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life... For they are life to those who find them and healing to all their flesh."

8:35 "For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from The Lord."

10:2, 11, 17, 27 "Righteousness delivers from death... The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life... Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life... The fear of The Lord prolongs life."

11:4, 19 "Righteous delivers from death... Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live."

12:28 "In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death."

{Distracted} When I forget to focus on eternal things, I forget that this world isn't all there is. I forget that the world doesn't revolve around me. I forget what my end goal is. His purposes are the same even when I forget them and He wants me to join him no matter how many times I wander. He brings me back into reality and I find more joy in life when God is in control. I no longer carry the weight of big decisions or big responsibilities because I know God is sovereign, God is good, and He promises to meet all my needs.

{Discouraged} He reminds me that there is hope despite myself. Living for a bigger purpose is what gives me courage to persevere. When my worth is in anything other than being bought with the blood of Christ, I lose courage. I tend to give a lot of weight to others opinions of me, valuing their perspective over God's.  Or I find value in my own abilities. Both of these lead to discouragement because people don't love me unconditionally and I'm far from perfect. 

I want to be grounded, focused, and overflowing in courage. 

Goals: 

-Spending more time getting knowledge and perspective through prayer, the Bible, and reflecting back to see God at work.

-Allowing myself to be wrong and welcoming help and correction from others.

-Finding a church to attend on Sundays.

-Balancing my life. Making time every day to pursue being more grounded, focused, and o erflowing in courage.