Be Holy in All You Do

The Hebrew word for holy is kadosh which means set apart or sanctified for dedicated service. God calls us/commands us to be holy...to be set apart for His use...to be different than the world. Life with Christ and in Christ should be different than life before Christ. We are God's beloved children and special treasured possession. Live accordingly. We are to live with wholehearted devotion to God and in radical obedience to Him. God who is holy calls us to live a life of holiness/Godliness, sanctified and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Be holy in everything we do. “God has not called us to be like those around us. He has called us to be like Himself. Holiness is nothing less than conformity to the character of God.” (Jerry Bridges) Like Father, like daughters! Love God; hate sin. Pursue holiness/ Christlikeness. Choose obedience. “As we grow in holiness, we grow in hatred of sin; and God, being infinitely holy, has an infinite hatred of sin.” (Jerry Bridges) 

"We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Hebrews 10:10) In Christ, we are already holy positionally for eternity. Is our conduct consistently matching with our status? Sanctification is a work in progress. Let us not be discouraged. “God does not require a perfect, sinless life to have fellowship with Him, but He does require that we be serious about holiness, that we grieve over sin in our lives instead of justifying it, and that we earnestly pursue holiness as a way of life.” (Jerry Bridges) Make it our goal to live holy lives with no compromise and keep ourselves from being polluted by the world. Be intentional and wise about how we spend our time and money! Be careful of what we allow to enter in our heart, mind, body, and spirit. "'Therefore come out from them and be separate,' says the Lord...Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." (2 Corinthians 6:17a, 7:1b) Be vigilant about guarding our heart and mind against evil desires, worldliness, or anything that corrodes and corrupts moral character. Through Christ, He has delivered us from the power of sin so that we can resist sin; however, the responsibility for resisting is ours (God doesn't do that for us). 

"People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated." (D. A. Carson)

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your amazing grace that redeems me, transforms me, sustains me, and teaches me to say "no" to ungodliness and worldly passions! My life is Yours; I surrender all to You. Please take my heart, mind, and will and change them to be like Yours! May I live a life of faith and obedience each day by the power of Christ within me. Please use me for Your glory and purpose. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen!