Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Be Ye Holy, as I AM Holy

The most dreaded commandment a Christian can hear. How can one be Holy like God??!! I mean, He's GOD!! I'm just a sinner! Poor me...

While I have never been one to beat myself up over my short-comings, I have often wondered how I was to live up to that great command: "Be Holy, even as I am Holy." I mean, sure Jesus paid the price, so we don't have to try to live up to God and all His Glory; but, still, everyone that I know - be they Christian or not - aspires to somehow be a better person. And, Christians all seem to somehow try to earn God's favor because they've heard and read a million times, "Be Holy!"

Today, I got some insight into what God may be talking about....

I am fortunate enough to be enjoying weekly therapeutic massages because of a crossover in benefits packages with my wife's work and my own. The massage therapist is quite insightful, and we have many great conversations during the hour that I'm there. Today, she was reminding me that as I enter in to Fatherhood (3 weeks!) to still focus on being a whole person. That's when I heard it: Be Holy, as I AM Holy.

It's when she said "whole person" that it struck me.

What does holy mean? It means to be set apart. So many times as we become parents, or enter relationships or jobs, or anything, we lose who we are. We give up everything of ourselves into this new part of life, and in a few weeks/months/years/decades we are left feeling drained... empty.

God is God. There is no other like Him. We are made in God's image - He's made each and every one of us unique. And, while we are called to live together in global community, giving of ourselves to one another; we are still - each and every one of us - unique individuals.

Be WHOLE, as I AM WHOLE.

3 Comments:

At 4/11/2007 8:47 p.m., Anonymous Anonymous said...

yes and we must HONOR our indiviual selves as we are "made in his image". One must first be a WHOLE and HEALTHY self to be able to give YOURSELF to others.....m

 
At 1/13/2010 1:37 p.m., Anonymous Jim said...

May I suggest that you consider how the Lord may have SAID those words? What did He "sound like"?
I think you are right to wonder 'how am I to be holy as HE is??'

What if God says it as a benediction???

 
At 6/26/2010 2:50 a.m., Blogger myles cranford said...

Bro J Man! Yahweh has truly confirmed your insight into the truth that you shed light on in your posting. This is what He gave me:
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AUTHENTIC HOLINESS

To live holy, we must live wholly. Authentic holiness is not an achievement attained by doing. It is a state of being, imputed by Yahweh. By His grace, and ONLY by His grace, we can look to Him, and listen for His voice, in ALL. 1Peter 15-16 [BE holy, not DO holy]. Holiness cannot be DONE by us. If we, by His grace, submit to Him...HE WILL do all that is required to ensure that our walk matches our talk.

Conversely, as long as we continue to try and "do the best we can with the Lord's help," we will continue to fall short.

Myles Cranford 26JUN10 1:15 a.m.
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Bless you, brother J!

If you are on Facebook, send me a friend request!

Myles

 

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