“As Christians we often speak of glorifying God. However, we don’t seem to realize the glory of God is the perfection of creation. We glorify Him by becoming saints and inspiring others to do the same.”
~ John R. Wood
Our Forgotten Purpose
Our goal as Christians is Heaven. Funny thing is, only saints are allowed in. What is a saint? Are they people who led perfect lives from day one? No. Some came pretty close. Others had much more of a struggle. What they have in common is that they made a conscious effort to pursue Heaven, to become saints.
“This is the will of God, your holiness.”
~ 1 Thessalonians 4:3
You and I can become saints too. Without a purpose, a goal, a mission plan, life can seem pointless. When we set sainthood as our primary purpose in life, all of the sudden things start to come in to focus—work, family, health, etc. Everything makes sense in relation to our purpose which is to become a saint, or as Matthew Kelly calls it the “best-version-of-yourself”.
How can we achieve our potential if we don’t know our purpose? Well, now you know. So it’s time to get to work. Get serious about your faith!
It’s Not All About You
Once you’ve figured out your purpose, it’s easy to become discouraged when you realize that sainthood isn’t easy to achieve. The good news is that it’s not something you achieve on your own. Yes, you must make a conscious effort to change your life, recenter yourself on God, and perservere in faith. But the best part about it is that He will help you.
“Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, live soberly, and set your hopes completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Like obedient children, do not act in compliance with the desires of your former ignorance but, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, for it is written, ‘Be holy because I [am] holy.'”
~ 1 Peter 1:13-16
Without God’s help—grace—sainthood would be impossible. The saints aren’t saints just because they were good people, in fact, being a Christian is about much more than being a good person. Being a Christian is about being holy and you can’t be holy on your own without God. So ask Him to make you holy, everyday.
Make Sainthood Your Mission
We’ve established that our purpose in life is to become saints, to be holy. Vatican II reaffirmed and refocused that all of us are called to holiness (LG 39). You’ve got to make sainthood your mission. You’ve got to desire holiness, to actively pursue it. You’ve got to ask for and depend on the grace of God to transform you. Nevertheless, it can seem like an insurmountable task. It can seem like mission impossible.
“All great things are accomplished little by little. This mission of sainthood is accomplished one habit at a time.”
~ John R. Wood
This is the approach you’ve got to take. The path to sainthood for most of us is one of baby steps. There are those souls who are able to take giant leaps and bounds, but the majority of us take small steps forward and sometimes even steps backward. Matthew Kelly calls this “incremental spirituality”.
God is not impressed with your spiritual mediocrity. He desires that you live a life of extraordinary holiness and heroic virtue. It’s time to get serious about your faith. Make it a habit everyday think about one thing you can do to help you become a saint. Ask God: What is that one thing? How are you calling me to holiness today?