God's Grace (Holiness Part 5 of 5)
This is a 5-part series on what it takes to grow in holiness.
None of this is our own doing.
While we do need to desire it, know what’s right, do it, and do it again, we need to rely on God and His grace. Without it, holiness is impossible for us.
This isn’t just some pious add-on. It’s the foundation of everything.
Where did your desire for holiness come from? Not from you—God planted it. Who revealed to you what’s right and what to do? God, through His Church, His Scripture, His saints. Who gives you the strength to act when you don’t feel like it? God’s grace. Who picks you up when you fail and gives you the ability to try again? God.
His hand was first in all of it.
We can’t white-knuckle our way to holiness. We can’t manufacture virtue through sheer willpower. We can’t earn our way into God’s favor. All we can do is cooperate with the grace He’s already offering.
That’s what makes this both humbling and freeing. Humbling because we can’t do it on our own. Freeing because we don’t have to.
So yes, desire holiness. Yes, learn what to do. Yes, take action and keep taking action. But do all of it while staying close to God in prayer, receiving the sacraments, asking for His help, acknowledging your dependence on Him.
Because at the end of the day, holiness isn’t something we achieve. It’s something we receive.