“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord”. Heb 12:14 (NIV)
I get the holiness requirement. God wants us to be holy, like He is holy. Synonyms that come to mind include pure, free from sin/defilement, dedicated & consecrated to God.
I get that it’s important to emphasize purity, and hold each other accountable as we encourage one another to live holy lives unto the Lord. But I also get that we all struggle, and we are all on a journey to perfect purity. A journey to being like our Father in Heaven.
God is full of grace and mercy. While not encouraging sin, there is grace available to walk in holiness and purity. I feel like we don’t emphasize this enough! And this is the part I don’t get.
Too many of God’s people are struggling with guilt and feeling never good enough. Allowing the devil to torment them, while they struggle with whatever sin holds them bound.
God is a loving and caring Father who certainly wants us to succeed in our Christian walk and in every thing he has called us to do. Jesus came that we might have abundant life.
To my dear fellow Christian brother and sister, there is grace to live the holy life God has called us to. Abundant grace. More than enough grace.
If you would open up to God our Father, and ask Him to help you in the areas where you struggle, He will! The Holy Spirit can open your eyes, teach you, strengthen you. He can teach you when to say no, and when to just run! He will make available to you, heavenly resources to defeat the wiles of the devil. He can help bring the right people into your life to encourage you as you thirst after righteousness. As you depend on Him, He will show you how to close up the cracks in your heart/life through which the devil attacks.
Rely on the Lord, obey His leading. I pray that the Lord helps us all to live holy and righteous lives; lives that will shine as lights for His glory in this troubled generation.
Shalom!
