He Will Do It

READ

Most of us carry an exhausting assumption about the spiritual life: that transformation is primarily our responsibility. We wake up each morning with a mental checklist of spiritual disciplines to complete, character flaws to overcome, and habits to break. We treat our relationship with God like a self-improvement program where success depends on our consistency, our willpower, our ability to finally get it right.

And when we inevitably fall short—when we miss our quiet time, lose our temper, or find ourselves struggling with the same sin for the hundredth time—we spiral into shame. We assume God is disappointed, that we're falling behind, that maybe we're just not cut out for this whole Christianity thing. The weight of our own transformation crushes us because we've misunderstood something fundamental about how God works.

Paul's words to the Thessalonians cut through this exhausting paradigm with a promise that sounds almost too good to be true.

Let’s take a moment to read 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24:

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

REFLECT

There's a sentence in Paul's letter to the Thessalonians that stops me every time I read it: "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it."

Did you catch that last line? He will do it. Not "you must do it." Not "if you try hard enough, you might manage it." Not "here are seventeen steps to becoming holy." Simply: He will do it.

This is revolutionary because most of us approach our spiritual lives like a self-improvement project. We catalog our failures, identify our weaknesses, and create action plans for moral upgrade. We read books about spiritual disciplines, attend conferences about character development, and quietly measure ourselves against others who seem further along. We're trying so hard to become who God wants us to be that we miss what God is actually offering: not a program, but a relationship. Not rules for improvement, but love that transforms.

Paul prays that God would sanctify them "through and through"—the Greek literally means "whole" or "complete." Spirit, soul, and body. Nothing left out. Nothing held back. This isn't partial renovation; it's total transformation. And crucially, it's not something we accomplish through willpower or religious performance. It's something God does.

"The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it." Think about what this means. The same God who called you into relationship with Him—who pursued you when you were running, who loved you before you deserved it, who chose you when you felt unchosen—that God is the one doing the work of making you whole. And He's faithful. Not fickle. Not disappointed. Not giving up when you stumble. Faithful.

This stands in stark contrast to how most of us actually live. We believe God saved us by grace, but we think we sanctify ourselves by effort. We trust Him for forgiveness, but we trust ourselves for formation. We accept His love at conversion, but we assume His ongoing affection depends on our performance. We've turned the Christian life into a transaction: I'll be good, and God will be pleased. I'll try harder, and He'll love me more.

But that's not transformation. That's exhausting. Real transformation happens not through striving but through abiding. Not through self-improvement but through relationship. Not through trying to be good enough but through letting ourselves be loved enough. When Paul says God will sanctify you "through and through," he's describing a work that touches everything—your spirit (your connection with God), your soul (your mind, will, and emotions), your body (your physical life and choices). Nothing is outside the scope of God's transforming love.

But here's what we need to understand: you cannot truly know yourself apart from knowing God. We spend so much energy trying to figure out who we are—taking personality tests, seeking our passion, finding our purpose. But our identity doesn't come from introspection; it comes from revelation. We discover who we are by discovering whose we are.

This is why the Christian life is fundamentally relational, not transactional. God isn't a vending machine where you insert good behavior and receive blessings. He's a Father who's forming you into the image of His Son through an ongoing, intimate, transforming relationship. He's not waiting for you to get your act together before He starts the work. He's already working, already calling, already faithful.

I think about all the ways I fragment myself trying to manage my own transformation. I withhold my struggles from God, thinking I need to fix them first before bringing them to Him. I perform my spirituality in public while privately despairing that I'll never change. I compare my progress to others and either feel superior or defeated. I treat prayer like a report card and Scripture like a checklist. And all the while, God is saying: I'm not grading you. I'm forming you. Through and through. Spirit, soul, and body.

The invitation here is to stop trying so hard and start trusting so deeply. To believe that the God who called you really is faithful. To let Him sanctify you instead of exhausting yourself trying to sanctify yourself. To bring your whole self—the spiritual and the physical, the together and the falling-apart, the victorious and the struggling—into a relationship that transforms rather than a program that performs.

What if formation isn't about becoming someone different through effort, but about becoming who you already are in Christ through love? What if the work isn't yours to complete, but His to continue? What if sanctification isn't a ladder you climb but a relationship you abide in?

"The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it." Not might do it. Not could do it if you cooperate enough. Will do it. Because He's faithful. Because formation isn't ultimately about your effort; it's about His love. And His love—consistent, persistent, transforming love—is what makes you whole. Through and through. Spirit, soul, and body. The God of peace is doing the work. And He will complete what He started.

RESPOND

Take a moment to process what God might be leading you to do in light of what you read.

• In what areas of your life are you treating spiritual formation as a self-improvement project rather than a relational transformation? How would it change your approach to know that "He will do it"?

• Where do you most need to hear the promise that "the one who calls you is faithful"? What shame, failure, or exhaustion needs to encounter God's unwavering commitment to complete His work in you?

REST

Take a moment to rest in God’s presence and consider one thing you can take away from your time reading, then close your devotional experience by praying:

God of peace, I confess I've been trying to transform myself through effort instead of letting You transform me through love. I bring You my whole self—spirit, soul, and body—and trust that You are faithful to complete what You've started. Help me rest in Your work rather than exhausting myself with mine. Sanctify me through and through, not because I've earned it, but because You love me. Amen.