In This I Am Confident!

Philippians 1:6

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Marriage is an interesting concept. On the one hand, I became a husband on March 30, 2002. On the other hand, I am still in the process of becoming a husband. What I mean is that, in a sense, I am more of a husband today than I was one year ago. And yet at the same time, I was no less Kristie’s husband on that day than I am now. Are you lost yet?

You see, although I entered into a legal and spiritual covenant with Kristie on March 30th, my maturity and my ability to act in the manner of a husband should continue to grow. I am not allowed to simply stop loving Kristie because she now has my last name. Neither am I allowed to merely live along side of her. As a husband, I must continually seek after what it means to continue being a husband. I must daily be growing in my love for her, seeking a deeper level of companionship and maturity. To claim that I am Kristie’s husband, but to resist the process of becoming a husband, will only result in pain and suffering for both of us.

As Christians, we often forget (if we even realized it in the first place) that even though we are children of God from the day of our conversion, we should continually be growing as children of God. Just as I have to learn what it means to be a husband, we need to learn what becoming a child of God entails. It sounds simple, but trust me, if it’s anything like becoming a husband, we have a rough road ahead of us. Not everything will be smooth and easy.

Becoming a child of God is referred to in the Bible as the process of sanctification. While the end result of sanctification is to become pure and spotless before the Lord, the road we must travel down will differ for each one of us. Many will have split families, experience the deaths of loved ones, or struggle with our own identities. The Apostle Paul’s path of sanctification included persecution, shipwrecks, and eventually death.

In all of this, however, there is hope. And beyond the hope… or rather, behind that hope, resides a confidence greater than any other known to man. This confidence is in the fact “that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” He who gave you salvation on the day of your conversion will continue to make you a child of God until the day of His return. Just as I am daily learning more and more what it means to become a husband, we should all be continually learning more and more what it means to be a child of God.

Never forget the best part of this promise, either. Jesus is the perfecter… not you or me. Although your trials may be difficult, and even when you feel as if your faith is dead, know… or rather, BE CONFIDENT, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus!