How Do You Live a Holy Life

To live a holy life may seem as impossible as the idea pictured on a poster of a small sleepy cat nestling inside a box. On the outside is the picture of a tiger. The caption reads, "When you dream, dream big." There is no way that the little kitten will become a tiger-cat without some drastic mutation. God's command, though, to be holy is not an impossible command. 

The secret of the holy life is Christ in you-not just Christ for you nor just Christ with you. This is the holy life: the life of Christ lived through us.

Holiness is not personal character slowly attained, but union with the Lord Jesus. It is a joyful life--a life of trusting Him and of obeying His Spirit within.

Originally the word holy did not have moral significance; it simply meant to be like one's deity. If the god the people worshiped was immoral, they followed the god's behavior. "If Baal lies, I can lie; if Baal is promiscuous, I can be promiscuous." 

But when our God says He is holy, He is saying that what is distinct about Him is His attitude toward ethical behavior. That is why when people come close to God, their ethics change. Paul tells us that our moral nature should reflect God's when he says we are "created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24).

A friend told me that after leading a night of prayer in her church, people who attended came to her home the following day to confess. One confessed to having had an abortion and another said he had mistreated his wife. Such behavior had suddenly become unacceptable. To become holy as God is holy means to be as He is in our ethics and morals. 

Thank You, for making a way for us to be holy by surrendering to the indwelling Holy Spirit. 

"But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15-16).