Word of the Week - Holiness = Healthy Living

“Create in me a pure heart O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” Psalm 51:10

Holiness seems to be a term of old and perceived as less relevant in the current age.  Like many things of faith in today's culture, I think this is due to a misperception of what it really means to be Holy and pursue Holiness.  I grew up in a more traditional liturgical church and therefore equated Holiness to being pious and religious.  I had the view of Holy people being priest and clergy who were sterile and irrelevant to the real world.  I thought to be Holy you literally had to live away from the world to be “set apart”.  Like many things of our faith, what God has gifted us for virtue and health the enemy has twisted and perverted through humans and our sin nature.The Truth is that Holiness and the pursuit of Holiness in Christ is not about the external persona, but about what is going on inside our hearts.  Like all things of God, it is an internal working of transformation within our hearts that creates our desire to live pure lives so we can remain close to God in fellowship through the Holy Spirit.  Holiness is really very simple and practical, it is the practice of living pure and virtuous lives so we are healthy and free before God and man.  By feeding our minds, heart, souls and spirit good things of virtue we are able to walk in the abundant life of joy and peace that the Lord Jesus tells us about.  “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full” John 10:10 This is not about salvation, we cannot earn our salvation by becoming Holy and righteous; salvation is a gift from God for sinners.  Holiness is a pursuit of believers to become more Christ like in our day to day living so that we can be healthy and function well.  When we are born anew of the spirit of God, we are led to new way of living where we replace our old habits with new disciplines because we have a new identity in Christ.  “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new is here”  2 Corinthians 5:17.  This is accomplished by staying connected to the vine of Christ through the daily disciplines of nurturing our relationship with God.  We train our spirit and soul by practicing the presence of God in prayer, staying in God’s word, fellowshipping with other believers and keeping a pure heart by pursuing virtue vs. vice.  Over time this leads to us flourishing in life and being a light shining in the midst of a dark world, and a true witness of the power of Christ living within us. “so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world” Philippians 2:15.  Not to mention it makes life much more enjoyable, healthy and productive.Holiness is not perfection or legalism.  It is not about rules and regulations or trying to control or manipulate people to conform to certain rules or religious practices.  It is not about being separated from people so you become irrelevant and unapproachable because you are “Holier than though”.  God’s deepest desire for us, similar to our deepest desire for our kids, is to be connected to Him and others in personal relationship in order that we might live out our lives in fullness to the purpose He has for each one of us.  Pursuing Holiness is simply a way of living and being that makes us more godly and allows us to live to our full potential in Christ.  It is very practical and applicable to our day to day living.  The following is a link to 25 minute podcast that really helps us understand Holiness and why it is so important to our walk as followers of Christ.https://podcast.app/richard-foster-a-well-functioning-life-streams-holiness-e67813359/?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=shareNext week I plan to share more about what it looks like to pursue Holiness in our day to day living.I pray you have a blessed and Holy week.-Duane