Who am I really? I am called a lot of different names, Jennifer, Mom, Sister, Aunt. I am a mother. I am a wife, a daughter. Someone said something in church one Sunday that has made me pause and think a great deal about another "title". It goes with the church I belong to, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (underline added. You can read more about what we believe here). I am also a saint. Whoa! That is heavy...me a saint?! In all seriousness though, I have had to ask myself what exactly does being a saint mean for me?
Saints "in the New Testament...are all those who by baptism have entered into the Christian covenant" (Bible Dictionary). Interestingly enough, in our day, "Saints means that its members follow [Christ] and strive to do His will, keep His commandments, and prepare once again to live with Him and our Heavenly Father in the future. Saint simply refers to those who seek to make their lives holy by covenanting to follow Christ" (Elder M. Russell Ballard). In both times, now, meaning the Latter-day, and in the time of Christ, Saint is referring to those who have made covenants and are doing their best to keep those covenants. A Saint shows their willingness to follow Christ by being baptized. As I learned this, I realized that when we are baptized and make a covenant to follow Christ and we are willing to follow Him, we are saints. This doesn't mean we are perfect, but we are willing and doing our best to follow Christ.
As covenant making and keeping followers of Christ we are trying to make our lives more holy by following the Savior every day. We follow Him by loving our neighbor whether or not they love us, by serving those who are in need (this would include the neighbor who doesn't love us), turning our hearts and minds to Him in all things. The point is, we are not only trying to "do good" (Moroni 7:13), but we are trying to do as the Savior taught: "Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 20:7). The foot note for "holy" says, "OR saints". Therefore, it can be read as: "Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye saints". We are becoming holy or saints, sanctified, and clean as we exercise faith in Christ (see D&C 88:74). Through this sanctification process we are becoming saints, we are becoming holy.
This sanctification, making holy, making saintly process can sometimes be very difficult to "endure all things" (Article of Faith #13) especially when we don't know why we have to endure somethings, such as the death of a child or the loss of a spouse, or unmitigated pain, financial problems, marital problems, just to name a couple. Enduring can be a real "Refiner's fire" because "Christ is the great Refiner" (Bible Dictionary) and has said, "Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction" (Isaiah 48:10). When we have chosen to "seek to make [our] lives holy by covenanting to follow Christ" (Elder M. Russell Ballard) we are choosing to follow Him through all things, not just the good things, or the easy things, or "when I fall in love" things. But through all things.
Christ said, "And I ...will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them; I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God" (Zechariah 13:9). He is making us holy through this refining process. We are Saints, purified and holy when we are faithful to Jesus Christ as we make and keep our baptismal covenants to follow Him and "endure to the end" every day (D&C 18:22). This I testify.
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