In the past few devotionals we’ve been speaking about holiness. 

In more recent times, people tend to think that holiness is either (a) about hoity-toity self-righteousness, or (b) an inner state of being. The first is simply wrong, and the second is only half-true.

Holiness is about being set-part for a special, godly purpose. If you are in Christ, you are holy. That doesn’t mean you’re perfect. It means you are distinct; you have a calling to know, serve and glorify God as the loving hands and feet of Jesus in your everyday life.

Because of that, you are called—as a person who strives to be holy—to have an outward focus. Love is like that. If you strive to be holy, you will start to act in a more loving way toward others.

Consider 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 (ESV): “may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God…”

What we need to see is that the love we share for others is connected to our holiness before God. Love outpoured is the ripple of personal holiness. 

When we watch the news or witness the general craziness around us, it is tempting to want to withdraw from the world. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to build a cabin deep in the woods! But God wants us to engage with his world not retreat from it. 

Love is acknowledging that others are made in God’s image and seeking his best for them. Serving, helping, volunteering, and lending a hand are all expressions not only of love, but of our personal holiness. 

Don’t be timid about striving for holiness. If you are in Christ you are called to grow in holiness. You are distinct as the hands and feet of Jesus.

Love outpoured is a ripple of personal holiness. 

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Notes:

–“Longing, Love, Satan and Holiness.” Click here for a Bible study podcast on 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13.