I think I have a Love-Hate relationship with sanctification...

I've been thinking a lot about sanctification lately. For most of my life I've prayed that the Lord would sanctify me, conform me more into Christ's image, etc. and felt like, "Man, as soon as the Lord answers my prayer, I'll finally have this Christianity thing down pat!" Funny. God's not done fully answering that prayer until Heaven. Shoot! Because I'll never be done being sanctified--in this life--I'll never have this Christianity figured out! But as the Lord likes to remind me, walking with Jesus is only partly about the destination (total sanctification); the other major part is the journey of becoming more like Christ.

This has been on my mind because marriage has totally opened my eyes to what sanctification actually looks like day in and day out. I think I've learned more about sanctification and seen more of it in my own life in the past 4 months of marriage than in 25 years of being single. No joke. Cuz now there's not only someone to be affected by sin and bad habits, but there's someone to point them out too... That's why I love and hate sanctification. It's really cool to see the Lord answering my prayer through marriage, but man alive it stinks to stare my crud in the face and have to deal with it. And I actually have to deal with it because if I don't my relationship with my husband suffers--especially if he confronted me on an issue!

Something I've been discussing with Gina (and God...) is the motive behind my desire to be sanctified. I don't want my sin to affect Brad. One of the big reasons I get my rear in gear is because if I don't he suffers for it, which means we both suffer, which means our communication suffers, etc. The question was posed, "Do we hate our sin because it affects those we love, or do we hate it because it displeases God?" *sigh* The question of the century. What if my answer is because it affects loved ones? I want the answer to be because it displeases God, but sometimes it's not... Maybe I need to change my prayer up a bit... Maybe my prayer needs to be that I would hate sin and therefore desire sanctification.

I love sanctification because it's a clear sign that the Lord is moving and working, and heaven knows I need some of that. I love it because I have listen closer, see clearer, and pay closer attention. I love it because it makes me a better woman, wife, friend, daughter, servant. Hmm. And on the not-so-sacred days, I think those are the exact reasons I hate it...