Submitted by David Miller
Be holy, because I am holy. 1 Peter 1:16.
Be holy, because I am holy. 1 Peter 1:16.
This sounds like a tall order from God. Does He really want
us to walk around every day pure and perfect? What if we mess up? Do we have to
start over? How can we be holy?
When we associate holiness with striving to be perfect, we
will always end up frustrated and discouraged. When trying to be perfect fails,
many of us will associate holiness with cutting ties from the world. But that
doesn’t work either, because Jesus tells us to be His ambassadors to the world.
However, He does call us out to be separate from the world. This does not mean that we isolate ourselves
from this lost world; it does mean that we change how we live our lives in this
lost world. In order to make a radical
difference for Christ, we must be radically different in Christ. He teaches us how to make holiness a way of life rather than see it as some
lofty place of enlightenment we can never reach. God has placed us where we
live and work, not to be “pious” or to isolate ourselves as if in incubators,
but to reflect who Christ is as we walk among other people. If we are in the
process of being conformed to Jesus’ likeness, then the longer we live and
mature spiritually, the more others should be able to recognize the Savior in
us. Our hearts should grow softer, and our willingness to love and serve should
increase.
If we are Christ’s ambassadors,
then our lives must be holy; otherwise, we are misrepresenting Him. If we are
the body of Christ, then our hands are His hands, our eyes are His eyes, and
our feet are His feet. When we allow Jesus to speak, love, and serve through
us, others will be compelled to ask what makes such a difference in our lives.
God doesn’t tell us to “become holy” because He knows we
could never do that on our own. Instead, He says, “Be holy.” In other words,
starting right now and every day forward, our lives should reflect who we are
in Jesus. It is Jesus who makes us holy, not ourselves. We are assured of this
in Leviticus 20:8 - “Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord, who makes you holy.”
Being holy is an attitude of the heart that says, “Lord, my
life is yours. Teach me to be like You. Show me how to hear people and see
people like You do. I am Yours and Yours alone.
Use me for Your divine purpose.”
That is holiness.
Scripture to Claim:
Create in me a clean heart, Lord. Renew my mind to think like You. Restore to me Your joy; and make me willing to obey You. Psalm 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, Lord. Renew my mind to think like You. Restore to me Your joy; and make me willing to obey You. Psalm 51:10
