The Call to Holiness

I Thess.4: 7-8

For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

 

The will of God for many is an illusive reality. What is the will of God in this situation? How do I know what I should do? But in this instance it is clearly stated. God has called us all to holiness without a shred or hint of impurity. For this is the will of God., your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. No confusion here! But sadly, I have heard many believers say that God has led them to a different person. They have justified their affair, destroyed their marriage, and gone their merry way. How this must grieve the heart of God!

 

But these verses do provide a clear guide for other situations as well. I must ask my self if there is any impurity in what I am choosing? Is lust involved? Is what I am choosing growing me in holiness? This teaching affects not just immorality, but what I watch (TV and movies), what I listen to (music, internet), and what I participate in. Some things do seem to be neutral, not taking me down a wrong path, but, at the same time, are they producing holiness in my life? This is the will of God for my life: holiness and self-control. For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Am I using this great gift? Am I asking to be strengthened with His might for all endurance and patience with joy?

Serious stuff!

 

Father,

Strengthen me and grow me in holiness. Make all my choices be honoring to You. Show me how to grow in holiness.

In Him,

Amen