“Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14 NLT)
Holiness isn’t something we accomplish or achieve, it’s more like a pathway on which the Lord leads us when we confess our sin and express our desire to be His child. It’s not something we do as much as something God does with us and for us. Holiness and Sanctification come from the same Greek word that basically means to be set apart for sacred purpose.
The tools used in sacrificing animals to the Lord in the Old Testament were sanctified or holy because they were used exclusively for the sacred purpose of preparing the sacrifices that were to be offered to the Lord. In much the same way our lives are made holy by the presence of the Holy Spirit who lives in us as God’s children.
The life-long process of sanctification is the presence of the Holy Spirit alive in us and actively seeking to conform us to the likeness of Jesus. That process is two-fold, first cleansing our heart and filling us with Himself, then teaching us what that looks like in practical ways. Brian Dye gives us insight into that process as he writes: “How you use your time is a holiness issue.” How we speak, work, love, serve, treat others, virtually everything we do, say, or think is a holiness issue.
That’s why it’s so critical to allow the Holy Spirit access to every avenue and dimension of our life. The Psalmist guided us in the pursuit of holiness when he wrote Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”
Sin begins in our heart/mind, thus, the reason we must often ask the Lord to compare our thoughts and motivations to what His will and desire is for us. Too often we fly by the seat of our pants, not stopping to balance what we are saying or doing with the affect our behavior is having on another person, especially those closest to us.
For some unknown reason we tend to have the attitude that it doesn’t matter how we speak to or treat our spouse or kids, after all, we wrongly reason, they love us and will understand our moods. As a rule, our greatest ministry is in our home, with our spouse and children. To fail there is to fail everywhere. It doesn’t matter if the people at work, school, church, or anyplace else think we’re the greatest thing since flush toilets, if we’re not thought of highly and respectfully in our homes, we need to seek the Lord’s and our family’s forgiveness.
Holiness is an all-encompassing process made visible in our relationships with others, but is developed most effectively when we’re alone, when no one sees what we’re doing or thinking but Jesus. In a similar way as what we do in practice is what we do in the game, what we think and how we behave when no one is watching gives the greatest revelation of who we are as a person and in Christ.
There is no one I want more to be in heaven with than members of my family, especially my kids, yet they are the ones who seem to be running fastest away from Him in this season of their lives. That to me reflects my need to live and love more intentionally, listen to the Lord and them more carefully, and be more alert to the right time and place to speak life into their lives without pushing them further away. For me it is definitely a holiness issue.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 