Most Radiant King, I have heard Your call to be holy as You are holy, but I wonder how? I am an imperfect person and I wonder how You could ever expect me to be holy like You. After committing my life to you, I still feel a pulling back to my old ways. I find it hard to conceive that holy is everything I do. Holiness calls me to be totally devoted to You and separated from sin with all its allures. As a Child, I am to be different and act different, not become one who blends in with the crowd. The thing that makes me different is Your qualities taking hold in my life. My focus and priorities must become Yours. I must accept the fact that I cannot become holy on my own and You have left me the gift of the Holy Spirit to help me learn how to obey and overcome the power of sin. Excuses for failure will no longer suffice … I must rely on the Holy Spirit to help me break free from the grip of sin.
Within my members there is a war going on between good and evil. My spirit, born of You, is totally averse to sin and evil. My fallen flesh is vulnerable to being drawn in by sin and evil. So how can I win this war? I am convinced that it is through the way I think and reason. I can see that if I get my thinking aligned with my spirit, I’ll be able to walk as You did. Your Word confirms to me the importance of my mind becoming renewed. I am compelled to no longer replicate the patterns of the world which are selfish and corrupting … and instead, allow the Holy Spirit to reshape my thinking and ways into Yours. In allowing my thinking to be transformed, I will become more focused on honoring and obeying You. It is possible to avoid worldly ways but still be proud, covetous, selfish, stubborn and arrogant. Only when I allow the Holy Spirit to renew, reeducate and redirect my thinking will I really be transformed.
The scriptures that call me to be holy as You are holy are actually an invitation for me to follow in the high standards You established with Your life. If I am to become truly holy, then it must with an inner commitment to be like You rather than manifesting it immediately in a the way I lead my life. Through this inner conviction and dedication to change, I begin to outwardly express holiness through the way I live. To be transformed, I must learn strict obedience, reject evil desires and abandon ignorance toward Your Word. My life must show an aversion to sin, unconditional love and fairness in the treatment of all. You alone set the standards by which I must live and I must conform to them. Then holiness calls me to forgiving freely, treating others as I want to be treated and willing to sacrifice myself for others. In so doing, I accept Your invitation to be holy as You are holy. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
Psalm 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in me.