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Published: 03 March 2019

A lot of words get put in that blank. “Cow, Smokes, Moly…” I’m guilty. We should probably
work a little harder at taming our tongue. Holiness is no joke. Holiness is often misunderstood
and I hope our study this week will shed some helpful light on the subject. We should not fear
becoming holy—we should desire it. We should not cringe before God’s holiness—we should
adore Him. We should not think holiness is unattainable—we should pursue it relentlessly.
God’s Spirit wasn’t joking when He said, “You be holy for I am holy.” Holiness is misunderstood
because we’ve had some bad examples and some partial definitions. Holiness is avoided
because we sometimes think it equals smug “self-righteousness.” The Pharisees thought they
were holy because they were separatists but they were not holy at all. They were the ones that
Jesus rebuked the most and even said, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” True holiness
cannot be properly understood apart from love. The two are not polar opposites or even
individual and separable components of God’s person. His Word teaches that He is holy and He
is love. This means more than that He does holy things and loving acts. It means holiness and
love is His nature. He does what He does because of who He is. And, according to the Word,
He is reimaging us to be holy as He is holy. That means He is after our nature not merely our
behavior. Behavior flows from nature. Jesus said, “A good tree yields good fruit.” So, yes,
holiness has certain behaviors associated with it but the behaviors themselves do not make one
holy. A believer is made holy by the Holy Spirit and should then cooperate with Him to become
what he/she is! We are called to this…let’s stay after it!

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Published: 24 February 2019

“Don’t be so selfish!”  We all heard that phrase while “growing up,” because we needed the reminder!  We are naturally bent toward self-care and self-satisfaction.  Little people learn how to say, “me,” “mine,” “leave me alone,” and “no” quite early.  Of course, there is an appropriate amount of self-care and self-interest that is essential and normal.  When Jesus taught about love He said, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”  He didn’t demean self-love but He did teach that self-love is not the only love.  We should take care of ourselves but we should not only think of ourselves.  Philippians 2:4 reads, “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”  Self-love and self-interest unchecked can lead to very dangerous places.  Narcissism is a form of self-inflicted heart disease that has left many men and women isolated and lonely.  We need a Pattern and some serious Power to overcome our tendency toward selfishness.  Thank God for giving us both!  He has sent His Son as a model of selfless living and He has sent His Spirit to empower us to live like Him.  Thinking of others takes different forms depending on the context, we’ll study two of them on Sunday, Lord willing.  May the Lord open our eyes, soften our hearts and quicken our minds to receive His Word.