In my work as a Spiritual mentor, many times I am asked “How can I grow closer to God and become a better person?” I am very straightforward (too much so, according to my family! LOL), and I will respond that while being a better person is great, our goal should be nothing less than holiness, sainthood. And then I share the following 4 simple steps to help them accomplish that goal:
Step 1–Daily Prayer and Meditation
Spending time each day in prayer and meditation with our Lord is fundamental to becoming a saint. Unless we are having intimate conversations with our Lord on a daily basis, we will be unable to find purpose and peace in our lives.
One of the easiest ways to do this is through practicing the 4 R’s of Mental Prayer–Read, Reflect, Relate and Resolve. Using this method, you simply Read any type of spiritual reading, like Scripture or a meditation on Scripture, then Reflect upon how it applies to your life; then spend time as you Relate what your thoughts are to Jesus and listen to what He has to say to you as well; and then finally, to Resolve to do a small, concrete and doable action that brings what Jesus shared with you into your life that day.
Step 2–Immerse Youself in the Life of Grace
Frequent reception of the sacraments, particularly reception of Holy Communion and Reconciliation are the keys to immersing yourself in God’s grace and being filled with His love and mercy. This means getting to Mass more frequently than once a week if at all possible, and going to Confession at least monthly.
Step 3–Growing in Virtue each Day
The key to growing in virtue is self-knowledge. This is so you can identify your sins and then actively cultivate the virtue(s) that combat against it. Therefore, coming to know things about ourselves like our temperament, predominant vices and adopting a rule of life all become effective tools to grow in virtue each day.
Step 4–Abanonment and Obedience to the Will fo God
The final step to growing in holiness is abandoning your own will for God’s will in your life. This takes obedience, constant discernment, and growing detachment from the things of this world.
If we follow these 4 steps and incorporate these habits into our lives, we can be assured that we are doing our part to become a saint. But more importantly, we allow God to doing His part and transform us in holiness.
In future posts, I intend to break down each of these 4 steps more fully to help assist you in your quest for holiness and to also find purpose, peace and abundance in your life. If you’re interested, I hope you’ll join me on the Way in the future.
