A wonderful article was waiting for me this morning. How God Uses Relationships to Make You Better, written by Daniel Darling, speaks about the Holy Spirit's involvement in the relationsips in our lives, the good, the bad and even the ugly. Below is a brief sampling; I hope you will be able to read the entire article for its rich insight into the ways of our God, how he sanctifies us through his favorite means: the relationship.
"...for the Christian, sanctification is not merely the process by which you become a nice, better person."
"Sanctification is something deeper, better, richer. The Bible asserts a bold idea that Christians--those who believe, know and follow Jesus Christ--have something deeper going onside them. They have God in them through the presence of the Holy Spirit... It's a spiritual thing. It's supernatural thing."
"Well, we know first of all that the agent of change is the Holy Spirit. And we know that He uses the Word of God to penetrate our hearts, cut us deep, and bring about change. The Word delivered, both in private reading and corporate preaching, brings about renewed thinking and renewed thinking brings about new behaviors, new loves, new affections."
"But there is another tool that we often overlook, a powerful factor in sanctification. We change through God-ordained, dynamic relationships."
"Every single relationship for a Christian is an opportunity for sanctification and growth."
God always knows what is best for us! He leads us to those people we are meant to know. Please read Daniel Darling's article at Cross Walk, for there is deep insight and understanding there for you. God watches over our lives in such powerful ways. I don't think we are even able to know the depth of His involvement, each and every minute of each and every day!
