Be Holy

                                              Holiness is still important to God.

I think sometimes  the word holy can be very intimidating when it applies to us and I think that's why so many people in the church skip over the part of God calling us to be holy. I know that for me as I got deeper in my walk with God and realized that He was calling me to be holy I was very discouraged. How am I supposed to be holy? Isn't God the only holy one? How does he expect me, a sinner, to maintain holiness?   "But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." - 1 Peter 1:15-16.   and "without holiness no one will see the Lord." Hebrews 12:14. It's very clear when reading the bible that holiness is essential and very important to God. These scriptures can be very intimidating until you realize what Jesus has done in order for holiness to be achieved in your life and who the Holy Spirit is.  First of all to be holy means to be set apart, separated from sin, and  in communion with God. One thing we have to realize is holiness can not be accomplished with our efforts or with our own selves. Holiness starts at the feet of Jesus. Jesus' blood was shed to wash us clean of our sins, to make us blemish free and blameless before God. When we are covered in the blood of Jesus our tainted souls and stain bearing spirits are removed and replaced with the perfection of Jesus Christ. Wow. God is so good. If we do not constantly keep our selves at the feet of Jesus we can not be set apart and presented holy and blameless before God. Accepting Jesus into your life is the first step but now you have to continually be in fellowship with him everyday with prayer, worship, sacrifice, and reading His word. Without these things sin will still control your life which makes holiness impossible. Another thing we have to understand is the extreme importance of the Holy Ghost. Holiness can not be achieved without having the Holy Spirit living inside of you. The Holy Spirit sanctifies.  "who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood." 1 Peter 1:2  The Holy Spirit does many things but one thing He does that is critical to us maintaining salvation is separating us from the sins of this world and consecrating us to God. It's kind of amazing. God requires us to be holy, we clearly see form scripture that without holiness, separation from sin, we can not see God. But He doesn't leave us on our own. God doesn't say "alright well you've got to be holy, good luck hope you make it." He says something more along the lines of "You're my child and I have called you to be apart of a royal priesthood, a holy nation. I know there is no way you can do it so I sent my son to die for you and wash you clean, so you can live by his example, and I've sent my spirit to live in you so that I might make your body my home and purify your heart, set you apart, and make you holy like me." We are not alone! In the process of being sanctified and made more like Jesus each and every day we are enabled with the power of the Holy Spirit to say no to sin, to leave things that separate us from God and taint the purity and holiness He has called us to. Holiness is still important. Saying no to drugs, removing foul language from our lips, keeping our bodies pure from sexual immorality and our minds from lust, dressing modestly and presentable, staying humble, loving one another. All of these things are important to God! Why? Because the more we deny ourselves and the sinful things of this world, the more we become like Jesus, the more we are able to witness to one another the glorious and marvelous love of our Savior. So to all of my brothers and sisters in Christ let us not put holiness at the bottom of our list, let us leave things that separate us from God and taint the purity and holiness He has called us to. lets not get it out of our hearts and minds the critical importance of a holy life, let us not neglect coming to the feet of Jesus everyday and  being filled with the Holy Ghost so that our lives can be sanctified. Remember that God is our provider, yes He has called us to be holy but He has not called us to do it alone. He is there every step of the way.Have a blessed day. Love you guys. ~Sofia