Holiness

Holiness. We sing it in the songs, we discuss it in our Bible studies, we speak it in our “spiritual vocabulary”, we use it to the point that it becomes a platitudinal variable used to orchestrate a profound conversation. It's interesting, if not sad, how the very adjective that God defines himself as (be holy as I am holy) has become an abused cliché. I must ask what is holiness? Here's my thought...Since there is no actual definition spelled out in the scriptures I've created a simple theory. Leviticus 11:44a - "For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy as I am holy." Okay, so we know that we're supposed to emulate God. Now what does that look like? Well, Galatians 5 lists a myriad of lifestyles that would surely lead to destruction but then continues with those that would inherit us the Kingdom, the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The Spirit being one with God then colors in the black and white of what it means to be holy. To execute the fruits of the Spirit in every aspect of our lives and to reflect them as Christ did on earth. Okay, so that was easy. We see what holiness looks like and now comes the hard part. Ready for it? How do we pursue this holiness? What steps must we take to display this glamorous portrait of righteousness? Romans 12:1-2 "I beseech thee therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God which is your reasonable service. And do not conform to the ways of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” I can’t help but consider this extra motivation to pursue holiness. “...which is your reasonable service.” No matter what we do we can’t measure up to Christ’s obedience on the cross but it would be a reasonable act to live according to his standards given that he died for the purpose of us being able to live. Romans sets a solid foundation for this race to holiness. Once we know what it means and how to separate ourselves from the world we have so much less baggage and weight to slow us down. Some examples of those who’ve stood out would be Joseph, Esther, David, Daniel...these young men and women stood out amongst the crowd in their lifestyles and love for Christ...Very admirable! But the question still stands. How do we, born in sin nature, separate ourselves from said sin that we so desire. Back in junior high I had what I affectionately refer to as a “potty mouth”. My youth leaders would give us a typical challenge of ridding ourselves of a particular sin and I would always choose my language whether it be swearing or off-color humor. Keyword here is ALWAYS because at the time it never got better. The sin never left because I depended entirely on myself to eliminate that particular action. The motive here was shallow, the source of termination (myself) was weak, and the acceleration of my sin (a faulty relationship with the Father) all contributed to my failure. It’s like I was attacking from a surface level approach and neglecting the source like when you cut a weed and it grows back whereas when you pull it from the root it’s gone for good. My weed was gone but the root was still vibrantly active. What I’m saying is that quitting a particular sin isn’t going to help any of us. So backing up again...how do we separate ourselves from sin? My answer is WE DON’T! We humbly accept the fact that we cannot be the buffer here. What we need to do is keep our sinful schnozzes in the word and commit ourselves to prayer. We must utilize the body of Christ and have siblings to keep us accountable!

All this to say that pursuing holiness isn’t necessarily pursuing a personality trait but rather a lifestyle reflecting Christ. We must quit focusing on selected areas of our lives and start focusing on the cross so in doing so all other deficiencies will fall into place.

And yes, schnozzes is the correct spelling per dictionary.com!