Based on How to Become a Saint by Jack Bernard
It is not presumption to want to be a saint. Rather, it is presumption not to want to be a saint. It is outrageously presumptuous to assume we can live better lives some other way. Not seeking to become a saint is the ultimate arrogance and has nothing to do with humility.
One who is holy—set apart to God—along with a people who are becoming holy together. The church can be the soil in which God grows saints.
Holiness is entirely relational with God Holiness, on our part, is nothing more or less than a wholehearted YES to that relationship James 1:5-8 Hebrews 12:1-4
Humility is the state of truthfulness that opens the door to the work of God in us. The door of our souls opens with the key of humility so that God can freely bring in every virtue. “Humility is nothing more or less than the attitude of the creature in the presence of his or her Creator and the way of acting which results from such an attitude”— Nivard Kinsella
Humility is not so much thinking little of ourselves as it is seeing ourselves rightly as creatures of God. We are called to make choices as creatures and not as gods.
The key is not effort toward the goal of achieving personal virtue. Humility and holiness are found in facing the extent to which we are helpless and, at the same time, expecting God to have mercy on us.
WWashing dishes has as much to do with a life of holiness as does preaching sermons. BBrother Lawrence LLearning to be less resentful toward others is as important as spending more time in prayer. CCatherine Marshall’s fast
BBeing unnoticed SSeeking not the appearance of holiness TTaking care not to manipulate how people think of you—speak and act to please God MMatthew 6:1-6
The best indicator that you are practicing self- giving rather than self-rewarding love is to love people you are not naturally inclined to love, even your enemies. If you are growing in this, you are moving along on the road to holiness. If you still have a list of people you can’t stand, you are placing obstacles in the way of the Spirit’s work in you.
I have never had to learn to forgive anyone for killing my child, but I have been learning not to be resentful toward people leaving their dirty dishes in the sink. I have even learned to wash them without feeling like a martyr. Rather, I am learning to do it for God to whom I owe so much love.
IIf I do the dishes for God, I give this service to him freely, so the work is not mine anymore to claim as credit. IIn fact, the other’s chore becomes to me as if he or she in fact did it. TThis may sound silly, but there is real power in this kind of spiritual arithmetic. BBy taking the way of the little crosses, I may be able to bear the bigger crosses that come my way.
Faith is confidence in the character of God. We get it turned around because we want to have confidence in ourselves—if not in our abilities then at least in our faith. Faith chooses trust in God over trust in self. Instead of getting from God what we want, we learn to give to God what he wants—our participation in his central purposes.
Humble confidence in God, and not a psychological state of certainty, is the key to faith. Faith is able to hold firmly to confidence in God’s goodness and grow through every difficulty encountered. The key is to will what God wills.
Obedience is nothing more than acting as though we trust the goodness of God’s will in our own situation. If one starts with the assumption that God is love, one can still recognize that God requires something of us. What God requires is for our good, and this means that God’s requirements are all grace.
Obedience to God is often difficult. God intends that difficulty, not because he is harsh, but because it is the means by which we can acquire the character of his true children. We can get lost in seeking God’s will by trying to discern a specific will of God for ourselves without paying attention to the big picture of what God is doing.
SStick with it! PPerseverance is not competition! RRevelation 2:9-11