I find it a huge blessing to know perfection is not required for Christians. Martin Luther has said, “A Christian is never in a state of completion but always in a process of becoming”. We are in the process of becoming a person of faith. God is at work in us. We are becoming what God created us to be.

Unfortunately, we are able to hinder the process through our decision making. If we always choose things based on convenience, personal preference or safety, we are not trusting God but ourselves. It is so easy to keep our life seemingly risk-free but so often that stalls our growth too.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; ¹⁶ for all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever. (1 John 2:15-17, NRSV,*)

What to do then? How can stay out of God’s way? Is there any way of enabling the process of becoming a person of faith? Yes, there is. The number one is to surrender to and abide in Jesus. That’s how we give God free hands to work in and through us. Without our permission, God won’t intrude on our lives.

Becoming a person of faith…

This first step might feel like it’s too obvious. Sure, we all know it. But we constantly undervalue it. We skip it way too often without second thinking. And that hinders our process of becoming a person of faith. A person of faith lives and breaths God and that doesn’t happen when we go on our own.

And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming. (1 John 2:28, NRSV,*)

The following steps are helping us in abiding in Jesus (the first step). But the main thing is to live with Jesus. These steps are not in order and the list is not comprehensive, each and every person can create his or her own list of things that helps them to grow closer to Jesus.

• Pray hard, listen to what God has to say to you.
• Dare to take risks for God, get out of your comfort zone so you have to depend on God and not on your bank account or safety net.
• Do read the Bible, even a verse or two a day keeps you closer to God.
• Give up something for God, not because that would earn you points but because it will clear more space in your life for God.

…is a process

Life is a process of becoming a person of faith. Being a person of faith is all about sharing our life with God. Way too often we forget to do that. But if God is a living God, it’s not wise to leave him out of the equation. Just think how much more meaningful life we can have when we live it with God. Fight everything that tries to steal your time with God.

When we share our everyday life with God, we slowly are becoming a person of faith reflecting God’s glory. It does not happen because of our religiosity or goodness or our deeds but because of the Holy Spirit. It is an amazing gift to get to share life with Jesus. Let’s grab it and embrace it and celebrate it. God with us, here and now. Hallelujah.

Gracious God,
We are indebted to you.
Thank you for providing us life and salvation.
And thank you that even that is not all,
you want to share everything with us.
Draw us to you, Lord.
Help us to fight everything that keeps us away from you.
Make us more like you.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: What helps you in the process of becoming a person of faith?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you embrace God as your life partner!

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash.Linking up today with Five-minute Friday.