Purification is an important act in the spiritual life, but even if you have heard this term before, you may not understand its meaning if it has never been explained to you. Take a little time to understand what this term means, then try to think of a way to apply it in your own life.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Understanding the Meaning of Purification
Step 1. Define "sanctification
"In a common sense, the term "purification" refers to the act of a person who dedicates himself to achieve certain goals or intentions. "Purification" basically means to dedicate oneself completely to what is most important.
- In everyday speech, "sanctification" refers to the act of putting oneself aside and offering oneself to God, and Allah in this case generally refers to the God of Christianity.
- This term may also be used in the ordination of a sacred office. But for most of the believers, this term refers only to personal offerings.
- To "purify" something, one would make it holy or holy. Based on this understanding, the act of purification can also be defined as the act of making holy.
Step 2. Understand the roots of this term in spiritual life
As practitioners of religion, sanctification existed long before the Old Testament. In fact, there has been a lot of discussion about sanctification in the Old and New Testament Scriptures, which in practice serve as a reference for the Christian community today.
- One of the earliest biblical references to sanctification can be found in Joshua 3:5. After wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, the Israelites were commanded to purify themselves before entering the Promised Land. When this commandment has been revealed and carried out, they also feel confident that Allah will do great things and fulfill His promise to them.
- The act of sanctification also refers to the New Testament. In 2 Corinthians 6:17, God commands His followers to "touch nothing that is unclean" and in return, God promises to receive them. Likewise in Romans 12:1-2, Paul describes the importance of viewing the body as a living sacrifice to God, leaving everything to worship God and no longer being attached to worldly things.
Step 3. Understand what God's role is in sanctification
Allah created human life to be purified for Him. Your ability to purify yourself can only be given by God, and the invitation to do so can only come directly from God.
- All holy things come from God, and every holiness exhibited by a man is transmitted to that person from God. Only God has the ability to turn people into holiness, which means, God will purify you-make you holy-after you decide to purify yourself.
- As Creator, God wants every human being to live in His image and likeness. This means that God wanted every human being to live a holy life.
Method 2 of 2: Purify Yourself for God
Step 1. Offer your heart to God
Purification is the answer to God's call to do spiritual cleansing. This means that you consciously make the decision to dedicate your soul, mind, heart, and body to God.
This decision must be a union of will, reason, and feeling. Only you can make the decision to purify yourself for God. No one can force this on you
Step 2. Reflect on what your motives are
Since self-purification can only be done voluntarily, you must ask yourself whether you really want to dedicate yourself or you are simply succumbing to the external pressures you have to face.
- Only you and Allah understand your heart, so don't worry about what you look like so you can find out your true motives.
- You must view your commitment to Christ as a priority, not a second choice or passive experience.
- You should also be able to feel grateful and love God with all your heart. When your heart is ready to purify itself for God, it will love God in return for the love He has given you.
Step 3. Repent
Repentance is one of the most important actions you must take when you make the decision to purify yourself to God. Doing repentance involves confessing your sins and expecting the salvation that Christ has offered you.
Repentance is a personal experience, and must be experienced firsthand. If there is a desire to repent, all you have to do is pray for forgiveness and ask God to strengthen you so that you can resist temptation in the future
Step 4. Be willing to be baptized
Baptism with water is a manifestation of the sanctification that occurs within you. By being baptized, you are given new spiritual life and your life is dedicated to serving Christ.
- You should also renew your baptismal vows regularly, especially if you were baptized as a baby before you could make up your own mind.
- You can renew your baptismal vows in a number of ways. In certain religions, such as Roman Catholicism, there is the Sacrament of Confirmation to confirm your intention to consecrate yourself to God.
- Without a specific sacrament, you can still renew your baptismal vows by saying the creed of faith or regularly praying a personal promise to God about your desire and intention to remain purified.
Step 5. Keep yourself away from the evils of the world
The physical body will always be drawn to the ways of the world, but purifying oneself means placing the spiritual life as a priority over the physical life.
- There are many things in physical life that are good. For example, at the level of basic needs, food is a good thing because food can provide the nutrients needed by the human body to survive. There's nothing wrong with wanting to enjoy the food you eat.
- However, in this evil world, good things can also be hijacked and used for evil purposes. Using food as an example, you can damage your body by eating too much, especially if you eat unhealthy foods.
- Rejecting the evil things in this world does not mean that you should reject the good things. This means that you only have to reject the bad side of worldly things. It also means that you have to accept worldly things as less important than spiritual things.
- In practice, you must reject what the world has to offer when your beliefs say that it is against moral truth. It also means that you have to live your life according to Allah's will even if this clashes with what is considered normal in worldly life and is treated as a top priority-financial security, love relationships, etc. These so-called “ordinary” things can be considered good if they are used to serve God, but they cannot be prioritized higher than service to God.
Step 6. Draw close to God
Rejection of the immoral ways of the world is not enough to enable you to truly experience transformation. The human spirit always needs a "drink" from several sources. If you don't drink from an earthly source, you must drink from a divine source.
- When the body hungers for worldly ways, the spirit thirsts for God's ways. The more you can get yourself to comply with the desires of your spirit, the easier it will be for you to turn to God at all times.
- There are practical ways you can draw yourself closer to God. Praying regularly is paramount. Worshiping every week in church and studying the Scriptures are two other things that are common and very effective to apply. Any activity that allows you to make God the focus of your life to direct yourself to God can be used as a tool to achieve this goal.
Step 7. Stay committed
Purification is not a momentary decision. This is a way of life. The moment you make the decision to purify yourself, you must prepare yourself to always turn to God for the rest of your life.
- Although you can only become closer to God after you have purified yourself, your holiness will never be "complete." You can never reach the perfect truth.
- God does not demand perfection. You are simply required to make a commitment and actively pursue it. You may fall along the way, but you have to choose to keep going even if you fall.
Tips
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Know what it means to purify oneself for Our Lady. Catholics sometimes talk about being consecrated to Our Lady, but you have to be able to distinguish between this self-purification and self-purification for God.
- The Virgin Mary is considered to represent perfect holiness. Even though Mary is not God, the Heart of Mary and the Heart of Jesus always live in unity.
- Self-purification for Our Lady is nothing more than self-offering by faith and this is a necessary means of true self-purification. The end goal is still God, not Mary, and self-purification to Mary is done on the basis of the desire that Mary shows the way to Christ.
