God is holy. That word “holy” has such a profound meaning, especially when used to describe God. Holiness is being set apart. Holiness means to be completely pure in every word, thought and deed. The only human being to ever be completely holy is Jesus Christ, and God calls us to reflect this holiness in our lives as well. “‘You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own’” (Leviticus 20:26). When we accept Christ into our hearts, we share in his holiness through his sacrifice, but we need to work everyday to continue to grow in holiness. There are two different ways that we can exhibit this holiness in our lives: the inward holiness of our hearts, and the outward holiness of our words and actions. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can learn how to be holy like Jesus.
Inward holiness is all about the motivations of the heart. We need to have pure motivations and desires. We need to root ourselves in Christ so that we can put on the holiness that God has called us to. “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12). What kind of things do we desire to do? Are we working towards allowing God to purify our hearts from the sin that envelops them? As we continue to walk with the Lord we have the opportunity to have our hearts transformed so that we can be holy as God is holy.
Outward holiness is all about the things we say and do as a result of what is in our hearts. It is the outward expression of holiness. It is the version of holiness that the world sees, and is a reflection of our true desires. We need to chose holiness in every interaction. “But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy” (1 Peter 1:15). How do we treat the other people around us? Are we truly loving our neighbor? Are we showing all of those traits listed above (mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience) to those we interact with everyday?
We must learn to be holy at all times and in every way. Our sinful nature does not have to control us, because we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us. “But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you” (Romans 8:9). Being controlled by the Holy Spirit gives us the strength we need to pursue holiness in every aspect of our lives
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