Becoming the Man or Woman God Wants You to Be

Scott McFarland
08/11/24 - Sun AM Worship

One of the greatest gifts of the Christian life is the promise of growth.  God lays out an opportunity in Scripture not just for our ultimate salvation, but our ongoing sanctification (a fancy word for God making us holy and maturing us).  While most of us are aware of our salvation and the promise of it, I’m not as sure we take full advantage of the process of sanctification.  There are probably reasons for this, the first being that it is not always pleasant.  The process of getting better at anything in life often entails work and being uncomfortable.  Not many people enjoy being uncomfortable, yet that is one of the ways in which God grows us.  Another reason I can think of is the need for a lot of humility.  Being able to grow involves admission of weakness—our ignorance and our need for help.  This is hard for us; we don’t like being weak!  Yet, if we look at examples of spiritual growth in the Bible, these people needed to admit their faults and weaknesses before God could use them.

This morning, we’ll look at how the process of sanctification through the lens of one of Scripture’s greatest examples: Paul.  We’ll see how Paul’s allowing God to work through him, his admission of weakness and need for God, and his ongoing sanctification gave him incredible opportunities.

I hope we as Christians can regain an understanding that God is not just concerned with what happens at the end of your life, but what happens throughout it.  We cannot become the people God wants us to be without submission to His process of sanctification.  Salvation and sanctification are not just future opportunities; they are right now.

                                                                                                                        Scott McFarland