Skip to main content

Striving for Holiness


              I love that it is the Apostle Peter who insists the absurdity that we can be holy as God is holy in his letter to Christians (1 Peter 1:10—For it is written:  Be holy, because I am holy).  Peter of all the apostles had a hard time pulling off holy.
              A rough fisherman with a big mouth, he was the guy who was always getting himself in trouble by saying what was on everyone else’s mind.  Jesus rebuked him more than once—when Peter told him that he would not die on the cross, Jesus said Get behind me Satan (Matt.6:23)!  When Jesus wanted to wash Peter’s feet, he refused at first (John 13:8); when Jesus was surrendering to the soldiers, Peter cut off one of their slave's ears causing Jesus to heal one last time on the way to the cross (Matt. 26:51).  Of course, the most famous failure of Peter was his denial of Christ three times before the rooster crowed (Matt. 26:74).  Even Peter wasn’t sure he could come back from that which is precisely why Jesus gave him a private visit after His resurrection.  Even when Jesus was restoring Peter on the beach after his resurrection and foretelling of Peter’s death by persecution, Peter questioned Jesus about John the Apostle’s death.   Jesus' response put Peter in his place, but started some misinterpretations nonetheless about John’s death (John 21).  These are our holy man Peter’s experiences in the Gospels.  We are told that Paul confronted Peter strongly in the Epistles (Gal. 2:11).  The holy word of God does not hold back on the evidence of lack of holiness in Peter’s life.  In fact, I sense that Peter’s misdeeds are recorded more than any other Christian at the time. I am most grateful for Peter.  I so appreciate his imperfections being recorded in the holy word of God along with the undeniable fact that Jesus placed Peter as the leader of the church.
              Peter was relentless in his search for holiness.  Right up until the end of his life he was writing to the churches encouraging them to grow in virtues and in holiness.  His own struggles for holiness were never an excuse to claim that holiness is impossible.  Indeed, it appears that his pursuit of holiness increased as he aged.  Past failure does not exempt any Christian from setting their sights on holiness even while living in a fallen world. 
              The path to holiness—detach from the world by setting your sights on heaven.  Peter’s instructions are always to consider what an amazing God and Father, Savior and brother and Holy Spirit we have living within us.  He tells us to ignore the suffering or think about suffering as normal in this life.  Don’t let hard circumstances bring you down.  See your suffering as opportunities to increase your faith.  Understand that increased faith is the real portion of riches gained in this world and it lasts forever. 
              Peter’s life of victories and defeats in following Christ produced a beautiful humble soul who was able to be lifted up as the leader of the church.  His failures led to humility which led to putting his only hope in the power and presence of God.  Peter gives me hope that I too can strive for holiness even though I fall so short of it.

Copyright © 2017.  Deborah R Newman  teatimeforyoursoul.com  All Rights Reserved.
Labels:

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

Why Me?

              When something tragic or unexpected happens, our first question seems to be, Why me?   It’s only human to feel this way and wonder why life has got to be so hard.   God has helped me look at my unwanted circumstances with a different question.   Rather than keep the focus on my pain and ask, Why me?   I focus on Him and wonder, How can You be glorified when everything is going wrong?             Adding one more word to that question makes a huge difference spiritually and opens my soul to find so much more than just my pain.   Another way to look at life’s tragedies is, Why not me ?   Sure, we each have our own amount of personal sorrows. These are the kind of sorrows that have no answers.      We can't explain away death, cancer, rape, bankruptcy and other heartaches.   It is easier to explain...
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