Fantastic. Here is the message I have for every person that decides to make this commitment:
It is the hardest thing you will ever do. It will absolutely change your life. I'm praying for you.
Why is it the hardest thing that you will ever do? Because as soon as you associate yourself with a desire for sainthood, there are going to be multiple people in your life that are going to want to take you down. They are going to want to see you fail. They are going to want to see you collapse in a heap, proclaim the entire thing a fraud, and move on with your life of cheeseburgers and sitcoms.
That way, you don't challenge anyone.
It is the hardest thing that you will ever do because people will challenge you at every turn in hopes that you will give up and stop trying to be that "holy roller/Jesus freak/Bible thumper."
That happened to me this morning because I have a dirty mouth. Not that my mouth is filled with dirt. I use foul language. Too much. It isn't that I set out to use foul language or language that is inappropriate, I just find myself using language that is useful to describe the situation and instead of utilizing the other 500,000 words in the English language, I sometimes choose one of the "big seven" as Carlin liked to describe them.
This morning a dear friend and relative pointed out the contradiction between my language and my desire for Sainthood.
That was hard to hear and it was right.
Now I want to be clear that I don't use that language around my daughters, and I seldom use it with my wife. For some reason I just let it fly when I think it is permissible or the audience that I am talking to will not take offense. They probably do and I don't even know it.
When you decide to choose sainthood and decide to make it public this type of thing is going to happen all the time. You are going to hear the phrase, "I don't think a saint would do/say that!"
Rather than jump down the person's throat and accuse them of not even trying to be a saint themselves, this is the opportunity to thank God for being so up front with you that He has decided to reprimand you to your face. This is the time to thank God for giving you a chance to practice humility, to change, to understand the ramifications of your actions.
This is how saints change the world. By looking the person directly in the eye, thanking them, apologizing, asking forgiveness, and making the change in their own lives.
"Wait a second! That doesn't change the world! You just told us how to eat crow!"
Yes. Welcome to sainthood. Welcome to God chipping away at the old you until the new you is able to shine through. Welcome to God taking the old you and beating the pride out of you. Welcome to God taking the sinner and sanctifying the saint.
What am I doing today?
I deleted a game off of my phone because I was playing it and it made my wife angry. I wasn't helping when she needed me to.
I am making a commitment to change the way I speak.
What do you have to do today to choose sainthood? Throw some comments out below on the topic.
The Sainthood Project
