Common Sense Reborn

Holy Living

¹³So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. ¹⁴So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. ¹⁵But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. ¹⁶For the scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:13-16, The Life Application Bible)

Good day friends. In our Bible Study we have been looking at 1 Peter and having some really good discussions. About three weeks ago we had discussed the verses above. The words “be holy because I am holy” have echoed in my mind ever since. Peter references the Old Testament, specifically the Book of Leviticus, where Moses writes the instructions for the Levite priests on how to live a holy life. Several times in the Book of Leviticus, Moses writes, “be holy, because I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44, 45; 19:2; and 20:7) as God laid out the guidelines for the people of Israel to live holy, as God is holy.

God is perfect. God makes no mistakes. God is the creator of life. Only one has walked this earth that has been as holy as God, and that was His son, Jesus Christ. So how do we live holy lives now? The Book of Leviticus includes 251 commandments, “laws”, that some believe were written specifically for the Levite priests, who would be expected to live more holy lives than the rest of the people of Israel. The question I have is: how do we, in this day, live holy lives?

Jesus came and set the final recorded standard in the Bible of how to live a holy life. He lived a sinless life and invited many to abandon the lives they were living and follow Him. That is our invitation now, to “not slip into our old ways of living”, where we allowed sin to be the lord of our lives. But what, exactly is sin? Sin is a transgression against God’s law. I believe the “Ten Commandments” are one of the clearest guides for sins to avoid, as well as the commandments Jesus gave in His Sermon on the Mount. Jesus teaches us that most sin begins in our hearts and minds, which is where we must strive to be holy. So to live a holy life is to live by the fruits of the spirit: self-control, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, kindness, patience, peace, joy, and love (Galatians 5:22-23). And the most important of these is love.

So live with self-control to keep from slipping back into your old ways. Be gentle to others and the world around you. Be faithful to the Word and your own word, follow through on promises as God has always followed through on all His promises. Be good, do good; find ways to help everyone and anyone you can as often as you can. Be kind, tame your tongue from saying harmful words, turn your heart from doing acts that may hurt someone to always working to lift others up and help them be better. Be patient: patient with people in your life, patient with your coworkers, patient with your children, patient with God-let Him work things out on His schedule, not yours. Be peaceful: promote peace, not seeking to ignite insidious language but standing firm for peace from politics to a global scale. Be filled with joy: in all you do, in all you have, in any circumstance, keep joy in your heart. No matter how difficult this season you may be in, approach it with the joyful awareness that God has created you for a moment like this, and be joyful to be chosen for such challenges. And finally, love: love God and love all people.

Be Holy, because the God who made you and everyone else, is Holy.