by Jennifer Greene-Sullivan
Aging English Major
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
— Psalm 16:11 (ESV)“For this is the will of God, your sanctification…”
— 1 Thessalonians 4:3 (ESV)
From the time I was a newborn until I was nine years old, my parents, my brothers, and I lived beside my paternal grandparents in Roddy, Georgia. My mama and daddy moved a double-wide beside my grandparents’ farmhouse, and we were nestled among the pecan trees on our property.
Although we lived only half a football field away, that small distance never stopped me. My brothers and I ran, walked, and rode our bikes to their house hundreds—maybe millions—of times a week. Our constant traveling etched a thick path into the well-groomed centipede grass between their house and ours. The dirt became so worn and compacted that the sand felt smooth to my bare feet, and at night it shone brightly in the moonlight, a visible reminder of how often it had been traveled.
I often fled our house at dusk with my pajamas tucked under my arm just to take a bubble bath in Grandma’s tub. I would shuck my clothes into her laundry basket, fully expecting her to wash them along with theirs on wash day. That path proved a very serious point: my brothers and I belonged to Grandma and Papa Greene as much as we belonged to Jimmy and Cynthia, our parents. Being a Greene grandchild shaped our identity. Their love molded our character, our childhood, and the people we would become.
That worn path came back to my mind last week as the Lord began teaching me about sanctification—the lifelong work He does in us as we learn to walk with Him again and again.
The Lifelong Path of Sanctification
Sanctification is the lifelong work of God in the believer that begins at salvation and continues until we see Christ face to face. It is not the moment we are rescued—that is justification—but the daily, steady transformation of our minds, hearts, and lives as we walk in relationship with Jesus. Through Christ, sanctification is both a gift and a process.
Sanctification creates such a precious gift because we cannot make ourselves holy. Jesus sets us apart for God the moment we belong to Him. His righteousness covers us, His Spirit dwells within us, and His Word begins to reshape us from the inside out. It is a continual process because our outward lives slowly learn to reflect the inward change He has already begun. Our desires are re-ordered. Our thoughts are renewed. Our obedience deepens. What once felt foreign becomes familiar, and what once felt natural begins to fall away. Sanctification is not behavior modification—it is heart transformation.
It is the lifelong abiding.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser… Abide in me, and I in you.” — John 15:1,4 (ESV)
We do not produce holiness by striving; we bear fruit by remaining.
“Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” — John 15:5 (ESV)
It is not perfection in this life. It is direction. It is vine-fed life.
Through sanctification, we are not becoming a better version of ourselves; we are being conformed into the image of Jesus.
The first time we walk the path toward Jesus, the grass is high and resistant. The way is narrow and unfamiliar. We are aware of every step.
But the more we go to Him—
in His Word,
in prayer,
in repentance,
in obedience—
the clearer the path becomes. What once felt awkward becomes natural. What once required effort becomes desire.
Just as my brothers and I returned to my grandparents’ house again and again until the earth itself testified to our devotion, our repeated turning toward Jesus presses His way into our hearts until a visible change appears in our lives.
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion…” — Philippians 1:6 (ESV)
Sanctification is not self-improvement. No amount of self-improvement can sanctify us. Sanctification is the faithful work of God in a willing heart–a willing heart seeking real relationship.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…” — Romans 12:2 (ESV)
Just as our childhood path cut through manicured grass and refused to follow the pattern of the lawn, the path of Christ in our lives begins to mark us as different. There came a time when we no longer ran barefoot between the houses. We grew up. We got driver’s licenses. We traveled the same direction by a different means.
The path did not disappear—
it matured.
So, it is with Christ.
In the beginning, our faith may look like spiritual childhood—simple prayers, borrowed disciplines, being carried by the rhythms of others. However, as we grow, the relationship deepens. We do not stop going to Him; we go with greater understanding, greater hunger, and greater love.
“And we all… are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” — 2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)
The distance never changes. The nearness does. Eventually, the path begins to shine—even in the dark.
There are seasons when we walk through grief, correction, and waiting, and yet the way back to Him is still visible because we have traveled it so many times before. This is what lifelong relationship with Jesus does. It forms a testimony that others can see. It becomes our identity.
Just as I was known as a Greene grandchild because of how often I walked that path, I want to be known as one who has been with Jesus—one whose life reveals a clear, well-worn way into His presence. Sanctification is not about perfection. It is about returning—again and again and again—until the way of Christ is the most natural path we walk.
The Path That Still Leads Me Home
Just yesterday, Liam and I traveled down Kirkpatrick Road to visit dear friends in Roddy. My heart ached as we drove that stretch of land that shaped so many years of me. The road is paved now, no longer the soft dirt that once carried our tire tracks and bare feet. My grandparents’ house is gone; the structure itself torn away by new owners.
Yet, the legacy of my grandparents—and our love—still stands. Grandma used to tell me so often, “Love covers a multitude of sins.” I listened intently as a little girl, never realizing she was speaking the words of Peter:
“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” — 1 Peter 4:8 (ESV)
Later that same afternoon, I drove Liam to church so he could recite his AWANA verse for the week:
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” — John 14:6 (ESV)
During the group lesson, the leader asked the third grade through fifth grade children, “How do you know you will see the Father one day?”
Liam’s hand shot into the air. “You will see the Father when you have a relationship with Jesus,” he said without hesitation. I smiled from several rows behind him because my nine-year-old son is the living testimony of that well-worn path.
My identity as a Greene grandchild—raised knowing and loving Jesus—shaped me in ways that can never be erased. That path of faith now stretches forward into how I raise my own children. The ground in Roddy may no longer reveal the trail my brothers and I pressed into it, but the path between Christ and me has only grown deeper through the years.
Through sanctification and the sacred gift of memory, I see it clearly still.
Every time I return to Him in His Word, every time I hear my son speak the name of Jesus with understanding, every time love covers what once would have divided, that path shines again in the moonlight.
I may not be able to see it on Kirkpatrick Road anymore, but it leads me still. It leads me to Christ, and now my children are walking it too.
Abiding in Him, following the Way—
our Lord, our Jesus—
the One who has always been carrying us home.
The path was never really between two houses—it was always between my heart and my Savior.
Closing Prayer — Keep Me on the Path
Lord Jesus, thank You for the well-worn paths You have formed in my life—
through memory, through legacy, through daily returning to You. Teach me to abide in You as naturally as my bare feet once found their way home in the dark. Press Your truth deeper into my heart until Your way becomes my first way, my constant way, my joyful way. Let my life leave a visible trail for my children— a path of love, of repentance, of obedience, of Your Word. When the ground beneath me changes
and the landmarks of this life fade, keep my feet steady on the only road that matters—the one that leads me to the Father. In the name of Jesus,the Way, the Truth, and the Life,
Amen.
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