Skip to main content

What is Holiness?


There are many difficult passages in the Bible.  One that has puzzled me for decades is found in 1 Peter 1:15-16: But as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy. (quoted from Leviticus 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7)
              First of all, how can anyone be holy living in these dirty, uncivilized conditions we live in here on earth?  Seriously, try to remove yourself from the scum of sin!  There is no place you can go.  Even monasteries are affected by the stink of sin.  I discovered this spiritual truth cleaning my house and doing the laundry.  You can never have all the laundry completed because the clothes you are wearing while you do the laundry are becoming soiled as you work.  Moms of young children know the futility of believing they can have a clean house; the very moment they are cleaning the bathroom, the bedrooms are coming unglued!  In my opinion this command to be holy is just as impossible. 
              Yet, God not only told the Israelites (before Christ) to be holy; He insists this message be repeated to His church through Peter!  Hasn’t He figured out the impossibility of this request? 
              If He remains insistent to challenge me to holiness, I need to think this through.  What is holiness?  I can’t see holiness in myself.  However, God claims it is in there.  He insists it is a possibility.  He also gives me the motivation.  He tells me that the holiness in me is the same holiness of Himself because He is the one who put it there.  He breathed into mankind an indestructible holiness.
              I have to overcome my false ideas of holiness in order to recognize my own potential to be holy.  When I think of holiness, I think of a little old lady wearing a black dress, frowning, with her hair in a bun.  Why?  I’m really not sure.  I guess it is because holiness seems old-fashioned, unappealing and just blah!  Why would God want that for me? 
              I love bright colors.  I enjoy fashion.  I feel really good when I laugh or have something to smile about.  Can that be holiness for me?  If I want to be holy as God is holy, perhaps I should start my quest for holiness by considering the ways I feel most connected to God.  Am I holy when I choose my outfits carefully and without overspending to create an atmosphere where people are drawn to me (or at least not repelled by me) so that I can be a light for Christ?  When do I feel God is most alive in me?  It is when I am used by Him to help other people learn to make a deep connection to Him.  I would claim that those are the moments that I am most holy.  How I live my life with God while paying my bills, driving, and eating dinner with my husband are opportunities to live out my holiness as well, yet I’m not in touch with this part of me as often in these experiences. 
              I encourage you to discover your potential for holiness.  Ask yourself the same question I asked.  When are you most who God created you to be?  Remember that experience and ask God to help you experience that while you are watering your plants, when you are confronting the company who overbilled you, and other seemingly unholy times.

Copyright © 2016.  Deborah R Newman  teatimeforyoursoul.com  All Rights Reserved. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Pilgrimage that Started with Tears

                Who would think I would shed tears deciding to set out on a wonderful journey that I have longed to take for many years?   Before I was ready to fully accept God’s invitation for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, I had to journey to a place of agreement between what my soul wanted and what the Lord wanted for me.   For years I have been declining opportunities to travel to Israel—not because I didn’t want to go but because I wanted to go with my husband by my side.   I know that God could have arranged that for me, but instead He asked me to accept that He wanted me to be willing to go and leave everything behind.   When I was asked to make a decision about going on a Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, God gave me this verse in answer to my prayer -- Debi, observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are cr...
2 comments
Read more

The Effects of the Holy Spirit

The Effects of the Holy Spirit               Can you imagine that the very Spirit of God is given to humans who believe in God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ’s death, burial and resurrection?  Just thinking about the Holy Spirit makes me realize that I can do better.  I am not left to my own resources when it comes to praying, having faith, obeying God, doing what He asks me to do.                 No one understands the depth of sin’s effect on a soul better than God.  Every action He takes has been to reduce the effect of evil that was unleashed into our world when sin was merged into His perfect universe.  We never saw it coming. Even Adam and Eve did not see what hit them.  God has counteracted with the effect of faith after sin by enabling sinners to be affected by His ho...
Post a Comment
Read more

Holy Saturday

Nothing is written about the events of Holy Saturday except Luke 23:56, “they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.” These few words speak volumes about our life with Christ.   What was it like for these ladies to rest on the Sabbath?   They had watched carefully, they knew how quickly Jesus’ body was laid in the grave. The men had brought spices and linens, but they had little time to properly anoint this most precious of all bodies.   As the women watched carefully, they made mental note of the supplies that would be necessary to complete this sacred act of burial as it should be. They spent the last few hours before sunset to prepare the spices for this holy act of reverence. The Sabbath signaled the time for rest.   I’m sure they didn’t feel like resting, but by complying out of obedience they were probably served by its benefits.   Their minds racing from the horror they had just witnessed, at best they could allow their bodies to rest and ...
Post a Comment
Read more