Pursue Holiness
Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (Heb 12:14).
We cannot attain perfect holiness in this life, but we can pursue holiness.
Living a holy life is like waging war.
We war against sinful desires for sex, uncleanness, money, possessions, approval, popularity, carnal satisfaction, food, wine, pleasure (Gal 5:17-21).
We manipulate/fix people for our selfish happiness.
We fight with discouragement, low self-esteem, discontent, depression, disillusionment.
Every day, we battle with indwelling sin.
We take sin lightly. When we feel bad about our sin, it is because we are sorry that we failed, or we become embarrassed that we failed, instead of grieving over the fact that we have offended a holy God.
To pursue holiness, we yield ourselves to God. We need to make up our mind that the knowledge of Christ excels all things (Phil 3:8).
“How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets real thing, it is irresistible” (C S Lewis).
We depend on the Holy Spirit who lives in us (Rom 8:5).
We develop the disciplines of living in God’s presence through prayer and praise. Our souls are nourished by the Word of God.
Pursue holiness, and we will see God.
(MT)