by: The Workshop Team, October 25, 2025
To continue where we left off from the last entry, sanctification is the effort to transmute ourselves to be holy after our justification by Christ. It is necessary to maintain our transformation, and at the same time a response to Christ's challenge that we become perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48) and his warning that calling him "Lord, Lord..." is not enough (Matthew 7:21). This signifies that we must actively participate in the redemptive process.
Given the complexity of the sanctification process, we cannot offer every suggestion in one sitting. This journey requires bite-sized reflections, otherwise, it becomes overwhelming and tiresome to read.
We begin with human emotions or desires, the most problematic part of our nature.
Understanding our nature
Humans reflect a trinitarian nature, composing of a body, soul, and spirit, that mirror our Creator (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The body, our material aspect, often requires the greatest sanctification. In psychology, this composite is referred to as "personality," which itself can be seen as trinitarian, as well, that is comprising of the physical body, emotional nature, and the mind. Our physical and emotional dimensions are shared with the animal kingdom. While Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas described humans as rational animals, in practice, much of what we call "thinking" is still governed by emotion rather than pure reason. This emotional and bodily influence which is our "animal nature" remains dominant in most people and must be disciplined and sanctified.
Fear is the most primal emotion, rooted in the instinct for self-preservation, which is our "fight or flight" response seen across the animal kingdom. From fear emerge the emotions that fuel the seven deadly sins: greed and gluttony stem from fear of scarcity; anger and hatred from existential threats to life or self-worth; pride and envy from fear of diminished social status; and lust, a natural reproductive drive, becomes disordered when unregulated by reason. All of these emotions, when not filtered by the mind, lead to damaging physical actions.
And when these emotions fail to secure the self, they lead to pain. When we are on the receiving end of such emotions from other people and we feel assaulted (not necessarily physical but our self-image or esteem), we experience hurt, and thus, when we try to get even or retaliate and do revenge, then the cycle of pain perpetuates itself.
St. Paul recognized this dynamic as well, and taught us that unchecked desire and emotion can lead to sin. In his letters (James 1:14–15; Galatians 5:16–17; Romans 7:18–20), he highlighted the internal struggle between flesh and spirit, and the need for spiritual discipline to overcome the impulses of our lower nature.
Eastern techniques as comparative lens
Before sharing a Christian method I've personally found effective, let's briefly explore two Eastern spiritual techniques that address pain and desire. These can be helpful tool, and we can use them without adopting their theology.
1. Mindfulness & Awareness (Buddhist tradition)
This technique involves observing emotions, desires, and pain without reacting. One becomes a silent witness, allowing emotions to pass until they dissipate. However, this requires long-term mindfulness training. A downside I’ve experienced is excessive passivity and apathy toward social injustice.
2. Mental Polarization (Yogic tradition)
Here, the mind becomes the primary filter of sensory stimuli, bypassing emotional reactions. Thought is generated by reason, not emotion. This is cultivated through intense meditation, scripture study, intellectual pursuits, and higher education. However, this also requires long training. If started late in life, unresolved emotional trauma must first be processed to avoid future blockages that might eventual re-surface and hurt us.
Both techniques aim for non-attachment and freedom from worldly desires and expectations. Without craving recognition or reward, frustration and suffering diminish.
A Christian strategy to manage pains and hurts
The Christian path is one of passionate action and joyful surrender. We work with excellence, yet offer our labor, suffering, desires, and pain to God’s glory as we walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). In this way, our small will aligns with His Will. The Holy Spirit renews our mind and personality (Romans 12:2), and our life becomes His "Workshop" and we become Spirit-led and sanctified.
One practical method, which I named the "Daily Sanctification Cloud Backup Exercise" for better recall to give it a flair that is resonant with modern technology. "Backup" means that just like in an enterprise that backups all the company data/transactions at the end of the day to its external cloud server for safety, we also backup or surrender all our days' experiences, accomplishments, or failures- the good, the bad, painful and the joyful to God's server so that He uses it for his glory. This is partially inspired by St. Ignatius' Examen prayer. This is simple and yet powerful. This has to be done daily before sleep, as the final part of your prayer.
Daily Sanctification Cloud Backup Exercise
1. "Scan the log files" - Scan and recall all the experiences of your day, but beginning with the most recent, that is from bedtime and in reverse order back to the morning when we woke up. Review each moment mentally.
2. "Integrity check" - Identify the successes when you review it in sequential backward order and thank and praise God for it. Also identify the sorrows, the painful experiences, and the failures. Try to reflect what caused it and what lesson can be learned from it.
3. "Patch and fix broke data" - After you examined the lesson learned from our pains and failures.
𝑶𝒃𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝑮𝒐𝒅'𝒔 𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍.
• If it is us, then we mentally ask for forgiveness to God.
• And then we mentally picture the persons we wronged in front of us and we ask for forgiveness from that person. Say sorry for the things we did.
• (If the person is within our social circle, try to be humble and ask for forgiveness personally and correct the error done. That is called restitution).
• Then mentally reconstruct the event, and picture that you are doing the right thing as God would have let you do it. See the failure being transformed into a success. Send your love into the mental picture of the fixed or corrected incident or event.
𝑰𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕:
• Mentally picture the persons who wronged you and caused you pain, suffering or injustice. Feel love and compassion in your heart and forgive the person/s. You may extend your palms like in a blessing posture.
• If it is too painful, forgive them in Jesus' name. Pray to God to help you forgive the person. Repeat until the heavy feeling is gone and you feel love in your heart. Smile to the person and thank God for the forgiveness. And thank the person mentally for the lesson learned. Also send a prayer that the person realizes the wrong he has done so that he will choose to do the right thing next time.
• Then mentally reconstruct the painful event or incident that the person is acting differently and doing the right thing and you are reacting the right way, and the outcome is not a failure, but a success in the glory of God - a win- win for everyone.
4. "Cloud Sync" - we "save", offer and surrender our day to God with thanksgiving and we pray for a new day tomorrow that the Spirit will guide us always.
5. "Password and Exit the app" - we ask God to send us protecting Angels and we retire to sleep in peace.
Do this everyday even if the day is not eventful.
For your peace of mind, remember that in the sanctification journey, we are not merely surrendering our pains, correcting faults, and refusing revenge for personal growth but we are aligning ourselves with God's universal law of justice which is perfect. YHVH Shaphat, the Lord who judges righteously, sees our acts (Judges 11:27). And the Scripture affirms too that 'Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap' (Galatians 6:7). This is not just poetic justice but a universal divine law that governs everyone.
I end with a beautiful song from Don Moen.
I offer My Life
by Don Moen
Lord, I offer my life to you
Everything I've been through
Use it for your glory
Lord I offer my days to you
Lifting my praise to you
As a pleasing sacrifice
Lord I offer you my life
All that I am, all that I have
I lay them down before you, oh Lord
All my regrets, all my acclaims
The joy and the pain, I'm making them yours
Lord, I offer my life to you
Everything I've been through
Use it for your glory
Lord I offer my days to you
Lifting my praise to you
As a pleasing sacrifice
Lord I offer you my life.
Things in the past, things yet unseen
Wishes and dreams that are yet to come true
All of my hopes, all of my plans
My heart and my hands are lifted to you
Lord, I offer my life to you
Everything I've been through
Use it for your glory
Lord I offer my days to you
Lifting my praise to you
As a pleasing sacrifice
Lord I offer you my life
What can we give
That you have not given?
And what do we have
That is not already yours?
All we possess
Are these lives we're living
That's what we give to you, Lord
Lord, I offer my life to you
Everything I've been through
Use it for your glory
Lord I offer my days to you
Lifting my praise to you
As a pleasing sacrifice
Lord I offer you my life
Lord I offer you my life."
𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁!