Pursuing holiness
1 Peter 1:16 “Be Holy for I am Holy”.
Desiring to be holy is imperative for every Christian. Being born again serves as the first step on this highway of holiness. Lately, the Lord has been pushing me to be more intentional in being pursuing holiness.
Why is it so important to be holy, first of all?
The obvious reason is the Lord has commanded us to be holy because He is holy. God’s commands are not to be questioned but obeyed. Therefore, this alone is a solid reason to desire holiness.
Nevertheless, as with many commandments in the Bible, there is a deeper reasoning behind this command to be holy.
In John 14:16, Jesus promises a Helper and He is the ‘Holy' Spirit. The Holy Spirit desires to dwell and make holy vessels His home. So essentially, for this Helper to help you, you need to be holy or at least have the desire so that He may work in and through you. In Leviticus 11:44, the Lord admonishes the Israelites to be holy for He is holy. The Hebrew word for holy used here is ‘Kadosh’. This word can be translated as Holy One or Saint. In 1 Peter 1:16, Peter references Leviticus 11:44. Essentially, the Lord asks us to be ‘Kadosh’. Kadosh literally means to be consecrated, made sacred, dedicated or separated. Holiness means to be set apart for the purposes of God.
The main reason we must be holy is to allow the Holy Spirit to move in us freely. When we ‘cripple’ or prevent the Holy Spirit from actively moving in us, we grieve Him and it is commanded that thou shall not grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).
The Holy Spirit has been pushing me to actively pursue holiness because I feel like sometimes as Christians we neglect this, despite it being a fundamental pillar in our relationship with God.
Actively pursuing holiness means spending more time with the Holy God. It means intentionally cutting off certain tv shows, songs and lifestyles. It means asking the Lord to reveal your nasty habits and asking Him to perform a 'spiritual surgery' on you.
So desire to be holy🫶🏾
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