Stephan Hoffman

Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.  Philippians 4:21-23 (ESV)

Are you a saint?

Paul closes his letter to the Philippians by saying: "Greet every saint in Christ Jesus.” Calling yourself a saint, or being holy, does not mean that you are actually just a hypocrite, or that you think you are better than others and that you never make mistakes.

To be holy means being set apart for God. In other words, you devote your humanity, your whole being to God. You no longer live for yourself and for your own interests, but for God and for the glory of God. What is important to God is important to you. Instead of earthly needs, you develop another type of needs. You want to expand the Kingdom of God, you want to live with love, you want peace, you want to do good to others, etc.

To be holy means you fight the good fight, you try your best. Many times the biggest difference between people is between those who try and those who do not. Some people think so negatively about themselves that they do not even want to try to do anything good. However, when you realise how God sees you through Jesus Christ, it changes your idea of who you are. God loves you infinitely, loves you so much that he sacrificed everything to save you. So much that he will continue to seek you if you stray, that he calls you by name, that he picks you up out of your sins and washes you clean. God has given you his Spirit, and holds you close to his heart of love. He takes you as his child, even if you have hurt and rejected him time after time. When you realise all these things, your perception of life, of the world and yourself changes.

You are not a lost sinner, you are a saved sinner, a child of God! Yes, you can confess with gratitude that you are also holy, also a saint, not because you are so good and noble and deserve it, but because God is so gracious.

Let's go live as saints to God's glory!

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit!

Prayer: Lord, you are holy and good, thank you for setting me apart as your child. May I live my life holy, set apart and consecrated to you. Help me also to lead other people to you with love, for in you there is true grace. Amen