i came across an awesome quote from rory noland’s book “the worshiping artist” about holiness. i dunno what else to say about it except, ‘wow’.
“Now the concept of holiness can be difficult to personalize because the word itself has become increasingly pejorative for us today. When we hear the word holy, we might imagine emaciated monks sitting cross-legged all day on a mountaintop or pale-faced old ladies in long plain dresses with their hair up in a bun. To most of us, a holy person is regarded as suppressed, boring, uptight, hypocritical, and prudish – a Goody Two-shoes. It’s an affront to be labeled a “holy roller” or “holier than thou.” So holiness is not something many of us aspire to. Yet, the Bible teaches that God “chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Ephesians 1:4).
Perhaps we need to redefine personal holiness. According to Richard Foster,
Holiness means the ability to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. It means being “response-able”, able to respond appropriately to the demands of life. The word virtue … means simply to function well. Virtue is good habits we can rely upon to make our life work …. So a holy life simply is a life that works.
Holiness, therefore, has more to do with internals than externals. Though holiness is a lifelong process and not something we fully attain this side of heaven, it is clearly not a matter of following a list of “dos and don’ts”. A “life that works” is free from the bad choices, the dysfunctional behaviour, and the selfishness that characterizes sin. Instead, we are free to be who God truly made us to be.”
