Paul states in 1 Thessalonians 4:3, “This is the will of God.” There you go. He’s going to tell us the answer to what people are always seeking. Here is God’s will: your sanctification.

What does that mean?

It’s our being made holy. It’s our being separated from the world, sin, and self, and being made fully the Lord’s.

We are sanctified when we receive the Spirit, being made His.  And we are being sanctified as He reveals sin to us, which we confess and repent of; as He reveals ways we love the world, which we confess and repent of; as He reveals ways we are loving self over Him, which we confess and repent of.

He does the work of convicting, of showing us our sin. We confess and choose Him and His ways. We ask His forgiveness, cleansing, and help. He forgives, cleanses, and helps us, enabling us to walk free of our sin, working to put it to death in our lives.

If we are sanctified, then we are holy. If we are holy, then we walk in holiness. What does a holy life look like? It loves other Christians.

An interesting note for our day and age is Paul’s encouragement to aspire to lead a quiet life. Do you have an aspiration to be known? Do you want to get attention? Do you want to make a name for yourself? Or do you ASPIRE, or have as your ambition, to lead a quiet life, to work with your own hands?

Jesus was a carpenter, working quietly with His own hands, not making any name for Himself for about thirty years. He didn’t need more. He waited for the Father to make a name for Him.

The lamp doesn’t set itself on the lampstand. The owner of the lamp sets it on the lampstand when He wants the lamp He lights to shine.