April the 26th, In the Year of our Lord 2023
Almighty God, you gave your only Son to be for us both a sacrifice for sin and an example of godly living: Give us grace thankfully to receive his inestimable benefits, and daily to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. BCP 2019
This liturgy, from the Book of Common Prayer, reminds us first to thank God for the sacrifice of Christ. It is through Christ’s death and resurrection that we are able to commune with our Creator once again. Further, it is through his death and resurrection that he is crowned and coronated Lord and King over all things.
Second, it reminds us to ask for help in following in Christ’s footsteps. The process of coming to live more like Christ is what is called sanctification. This means, slowly but surely, we come to say and do things more like Jesus would say and do them.
Sanctification is hard. It requires us not only to ask for forgiveness but to actively hate our sins. Hating our sins is hard. We all have sins we enjoy or are unaware of. In order to be sanctified in these areas requires a blow to our pride and for us to admit that we were wrong.
Lord, grant us your grace by helping us kill our pride and enable us, slowly and surely, to live more like Christ. Amen.
Further Reading