Holy

1 Peter 1:13, 15-16 Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. . . . As he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

1 Peter 1:13, 14-15

When we look in the mirror, we rarely, if ever, expect to see someone holy looking back at us. Yet scripture tells us that “holy” is both what we are and what we are to become. We have been claimed by God in Christ and set apart to be holy as God is holy.

We can “do the right thing,” maybe even most of the time, without being holy. We often do so grudgingly. We are made holy by God through the death and resurrection of Jesus. We become the holy people God has made us to be when we welcome the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. John Wesley called early Methodists to “holiness of heart and life.” As we surrender our lives to God, right deeds flow out of changed hearts, not grudgingly but naturally.

How do we surrender ourselves? By “preparing our minds for action,” “disciplining ourselves,” and “setting all our hope” on God’s grace. While it may seem strange to think of becoming holy as a discipline, generations of Christian heroes have understood it that way. We apply our minds to holiness as a goal and identify aspects of our lives we need to offer to God. Then we put our whole confidence in God’s grace to transform us.

Who is that person in the mirror? Someone God seeks to make holy. What blemish or scar do you see that God wants to transform?

God's peace,

Katie