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Becoming A Saint |
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Article by Tom Gilbert —
© November, 2009
November 1 is observed as the Feast
of All Saints in the Christian Church. Like many
people, I grew up with the belief that saints were really good
people, "other worldly" in their devotion to God.
The trouble with this partial understanding of a saint is that
we can make the mistake that God evaluates us on our performance
to determine who should get the reward of Heaven and everlasting
life. We should do good, but as a result of God's grace, forgiveness
and unconditional love, not as some sort of test of our worthiness.
Our actions are important. But we are imperfect. We make mistakes.
We miss the mark. Therefore, our faith in God and acceptance
of God's redemption is essential. Some Christian teachers go
to extremes to drive this point home, reminding us over and
over again that our works have nothing to do with salvation
and that it is all grace (Ephesians
2:8-9).
Can't Do It By Ourselves
Truly by ourselves we are incapable of redemption.
Our salvation is indeed a free gift - thanks to Jesus Christ,
the fully human and fully divine savior of the world. Christ
does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Through his death
and resurrection he invites us on the Way to eternal life and
union with God.
If you study the lives of saints an interesting pattern emerges.
They seem to rejoice over the amazing goodness and unconditional
love of God. And they recognize their continued shortcomings.
They don't deny or run from them; instead they embrace them
and ask God to transform them. In their actions they let God
work this transformation. Perhaps this is why so many of them
dedicated their lives to helping the poor, the sick, and the
less fortunate. They denied the self-seeking pleasures that
are such an enticement to us. They surrendered their lives to
one of service. They gave glory to God. Many suffered greatly
and many gave their lives. Some agonized over times when they
felt abandoned by God. But they persevered to discover that
God was taking them deeper on their transformational journey
- working secretly in their lives during their "dark night
of the soul" (see
the mystic Saint John of the Cross).
You Are About Life!
What saints discover is that life is not about them - they are
about life! They embrace the way Jesus Christ taught, that of
dying to self in order to rise to real life.
Becoming a saint may appear impossible to us. I cannot imagine
anyone considering me to be one. When I study the lives of two
of my favorite saints, Francis of Assisi and Therese of Lisieux,
I am amazed at their ability to rejoice in lives of devotion,
poverty and imperfection. Their joy seems to come at a great
price of personal suffering. My great challenge is my desire
for comfort. It is a trap that easily ensnares me.
The path to sainthood is challenging. But it is not something
you achieve. It is the humble realization that without God you
are incomplete. And with God working in, through and with you
life has real purpose. It is better to give than to receive.
A giving spirit produces its own reward of joyful identification
with God's children. Jesus emphasizes over and over again in
the Gospels that we must accept our reality and take responsibility
for it (John
8:31-32; Luke9:23-26).
Everyday that we can embrace this reality furthers our transformation.
It is in this daily living that we "become a saint".
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| Tom Gilbert is a writer
and spiritual seeker who edits and maintains the Living the
Solution web site. You may reprint this article as long as you
give credit and a link back to www.livingthesolution.com |
Scripture taken from the Holy Bible,
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973, 1978,
1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout
the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks
of International Bible Society. Use of either trademark for
the offering of goods or services requires the prior written
consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used by permission
of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, USA. All
rights reserved.
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JOHN 8:31-32
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Then Jesus turned to the Jews
who had claimed to believe in him. "If you stick with
this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for
sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and
the truth will free you."
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(The Message)
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