To be owned by God
Often, we consider ourselves better than those around us, recounting the goodness and charity we display. But in doing so, we can become hypocritical, taking undue credit for what belongs to God while shamelessly ignoring and rejecting what truly belongs to us—our sinfulness. The goodness we possess is possible because God, in His mercy, has reclaimed, redeemed and restored the flawed areas within us. The sinful nature within us remains because those areas do not yet fully belong to God, and we continue to resist handing them over to Him to be redeemed and transformed into the likeness of Christ. We are all, without exception, called to be holy as Christ is holy. We become Christ-like when we allow ourselves to belong entirely to God. Yet God does not do this without our consent. By acknowledging our frailty, consciously yearning for purity, surrendering our selfishness and sinfulness to God, and patiently allowing Him to transform us according to His nature, we set ourselves on the pa...