On the Upside
Going all in on Holiness
Let nothing stop you from receiving God’s grace and the opportunity for holiness; excellence on all fronts.
That means confronting sin with the complete confidence in the fact that you can carry your own weight in the everlasting battle against sin because of God’s grace and his desire to impart his holiness on us.
We may or may not have a very linear view of sin; we may or may not have a tendency to compartmentalize it into a few boxes that fall under the labels or categories of kill, steal or cheat. Whatever the case is and whatever you believe sin and sinful behavior is, however big or small, they are all road blocks to the emergence and maintaining of a much greater version of you.
If you want to be awesome and radiant in God’s glory; we need to take the garbage out and dump it all into an eternal landfill, one step, initiative, effort and day at a time.
Holiness is a complete upward climb; our eyes need to be fixed on what is “true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable: Things worthy of God’s praise” primarily; a blistering reflection of his excellence readily available in us (Philippians 4:8).
The Slithery Slop of Sinful Mediocrity
2 Corinthians 7:1 reads; “since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God.”
So what are the roadblocks-these gross acts of defilement against holiness and all that is true and right? Putting aside murder, adultery, tax evasion, armed robbery and treason for just a few moments or articles, I think, if my boldness may be permitted for just this one moment, that apathy and complacency should be given their due attention and spotlight for all the wrong reasons; not just because they are not conducive to our personal development but more because of their not so subtle ways of being.
These stealth aberrations and deficiencies move and grow like cancers; ever so slowly often enough and develop into mindsets, behaviors and lifestyles that formulate a second rate, more average you; a person living in mediocrity and insipidness due to limited thinking and lack of passion, conviction and intentionality.
No Apathy; all Wonder & Awe
Holiness is not just about praying and living saintly lives; it is also about integrity and righteousness which also includes self respect and holding yourself in the highest esteem by making use of your God given gifts and potential.
How many times have you put off that diet, exercise program or from getting that loan to start your dream business; or perhaps find the means and time to get that degree you always wanted? How much longer will you wait to reconcile and at least try to mend that relationship you once had and that meant so much to you for the longest time; and to forgive or receive forgiveness for all the stuff that resulted in the breaking of a bond so close knit and enriching? How much longer will you continue to sink into despair as your addiction or mental health issue continues to take over more and more aspects of your life?
Complacency happens when apathy goes unchecked to the degree that we totally allow the fire inside us to die out and turn into hardened wax or ashes; when we choose to resign and give up: Force ourselves to admit that we can’t move on and heal, improve, progress and achieve more than we have allowed ourselves to believe.
Holiness therefore, likewise means passionately demonstrating a healthy and reverent “fear of God”; displaying the utmost wonder and awe for his immense beauty and power to create and embolden; more importantly and fundamentally, giving props to the man upstairs for being so perfectly awesome in his desire to empower us to excellence.
You are not the Hype; You are His Heart
We were never ever meant to be average; don’t ever accept that falsehood and distortion. If we are meant for holiness, anything below high above average is a glaring contradiction to the grand scheme of things. God’s favor, approval, providence, power, love, hope and regard for us was established and bestowed on us from day one, literally; Genesis 31: “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”
And being “very good” when it comes to humans and human life by the same token means being God’s most treasured by-product and handiwork, his chosen and elite family, his exceedingly distinguished sons and daughters destined to be powerful instruments of his grace, prominence and holiness; 1 Peter 2: 4-5, 9:
“Come to him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious; and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
To go from the “darkness into his marvelous light” we need to make a decision and be determined beyond compare to stay the course when it comes to our resolutions.
Will you honor your “royal” lineage, the splendor, preciousness and uniqueness of your potential and great destiny as God’s instrument of holiness?
Or will you continue to live a second rate life floating in the aimlessness of complacency and miss out; waste even more time on the fruitless pondering of what could or should have been?
Life has an expiration date only known by God. We can stuff the moments we have between now and when that date comes to pass with question marks expressing our regret over wasted talent and untapped greatness; or demonstrate the upmost wonder and awe for God’s affluence via a determination to live out our inherited glory.
I hope you give yourself the respect God says you deserve.
Photo by <a href=”https://foter.co/a3/3b091c”>Dainis Matisons</a> on <a href=”https://foter.com/re5/4dc163″>Foter.com</a> / <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>CC BY</a>
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