Waiting for holiness

We through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. — Galatians 5:5                                 

The British novelist J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, “Sheep get to be like their Shepherd, it is said, but slowly.” The renewal of the inner person, becoming Christlike, is not accomplished in a moment but a lifetime.

Augustine (354-430) observed that this process is like healing from a near-fatal wound. “It’s one thing,” he said, “to remove the spear, but quite another to heal the wound by long and careful treatment.” This healing occurs gradually as our old ways of thinking and living are erased, and we become more like our Savior as we are renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16).

This renewal takes place not by self-effort alone but by faith. It involves reading, meditating on, and obeying God’s Word. We must also fix our minds on the character of Christ and ask God to make us like Him.

Then we must wait, confident that God is working in us to accomplish His purposes. Every day has its mishaps and memories of something we should have done or not done, but we must not be impatient. Though incomplete, we are in process. Sin may frustrate us for a day, but God is at work—and on ahead lies perfection, which is “the hope of righteousness” (Galatians 5:5). Someday we’ll see His face and we’ll be like Him — as holy as the holy One (1 John 3:2). — David Roper

Dear Jesus, take my heart and hand,

And grant me this, I pray:

That I through Your sweet love may grow

More like You day by day. — Garrison

The new birth takes only a moment; growth in holiness takes a lifetime.