HOLINESS OR ELSE

HOLINESS OR ELSE

I Thess. 4:7-8  God has called us to be holy, not to live impure lives.  Anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human rules but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.  NLT

      It’s pretty clear, isn’t it?  We have been called by God to live holy lives, not impure lives.  What this means to us is that we are to separate ourselves from sinful activities, conversations, and as much as is possible, desires.  We are to discipline and train our minds to focus on those things which draw us closer to God.  We are to strive to learn more about holy things and to put them into practice.  We are to strive to stay away from those things which lead us into sinful thoughts and activities. 

       While we know that we won’t get it right all the time, for no one perfectly lives a holy life, we can do much better than we do.  We can continue to mature in faith to the point where we become more capable of choosing to do what is holy and right before God.

       Anyone who chooses not to work on being holy before God, is disobeying God; he is rejecting God as the Lord of his life.  He is in essence defying God and anyone who does these things cannot live in fellowship with God.  We cannot choose which parts of our lives we will be holy in.  We must be willing to put all things into subjection to God.  We must be willing to get rid of everything that hinders us from being holy.

      We need to consistently examine our hearts to make sure that we are not holding back any part of them from the Lord.  We must seek to be fully surrendered to Him at all times.  We must be a holy people, for, without holiness, no one will see God.