Describing progressive sanctification and the three steps of change can be challenging no matter who the audience is. Place an adolescent girl recovering from an alcohol or drug addiction into your audience and the challenge has been increased exponentially. Yet, one must remember as fervently as we work to spread the Gospel in a way for all to understand, it is still the work of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:3b, ESV).
Today’s audience is Jaime, a Native American 16 year old girl from Sisseton, South Dakota. She has been born and raised on a reservation in northern South Dakota learning two cultures. One side of her family has taught her the traditional Dakota Sioux ways while the other has brought her up in the Catholic religion. Jaime has mild cognitive deficiencies and is a teenage drug addict with a preference for pills such as “oxy.” Her addiction is her mask for the sexual abuse she suffered from her mother’s boyfriends and the popular “everybody on the rez does it.” Jaime knows who God is and that Jesus died for our sins, however that is the extent of her knowledge. Her hope is to be baptized at the local church she is attending while in treatment. Progressive Sanctification—Jaime Style …show more content…
When a person decides to be baptized and follow Christ they begin a life-long journey. Some call this journey progressive sanctification. The process is simply you getting rid of your old habits of stealing, lying, and using, for example, and replacing them with new qualities that are like Jesus. These qualities may include being honest even when it is difficult and loving everyone even those that are difficult to love. In Colossians 3, Paul, a disciple or follower of Jesus talks about this. He says to away the old self which includes anger, lying, and obscene talk and put on the new self that includes kindness, patience and humility (Colossians 3:1-13,
Today’s audience is Jaime, a Native American 16 year old girl from Sisseton, South Dakota. She has been born and raised on a reservation in northern South Dakota learning two cultures. One side of her family has taught her the traditional Dakota Sioux ways while the other has brought her up in the Catholic religion. Jaime has mild cognitive deficiencies and is a teenage drug addict with a preference for pills such as “oxy.” Her addiction is her mask for the sexual abuse she suffered from her mother’s boyfriends and the popular “everybody on the rez does it.” Jaime knows who God is and that Jesus died for our sins, however that is the extent of her knowledge. Her hope is to be baptized at the local church she is attending while in treatment. Progressive Sanctification—Jaime Style …show more content…
When a person decides to be baptized and follow Christ they begin a life-long journey. Some call this journey progressive sanctification. The process is simply you getting rid of your old habits of stealing, lying, and using, for example, and replacing them with new qualities that are like Jesus. These qualities may include being honest even when it is difficult and loving everyone even those that are difficult to love. In Colossians 3, Paul, a disciple or follower of Jesus talks about this. He says to away the old self which includes anger, lying, and obscene talk and put on the new self that includes kindness, patience and humility (Colossians 3:1-13,