Colossians 1:21-22 “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him,”

Solid Christians today do not speak or think much of the idea of personal holiness. After all, no one can be truly holy because only God can be perfectly holy. We say things such as “God has made me holy when He saved me.” What we often times forget that although God is sharing His holiness with us, we are now called as well to do our best to live a life of personal holiness. His sacrifice for us gave us the opportunity to start fresh in our walk, blameless and sinless, holy to Him. 1 Peter says it well “As obedient children,do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.' ”

In Leviticus 11:45, God reminds us that He saved us from our slavery. Just as the people of Israel were enslaved to the Egyptians, we were enslaved to sin. “For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” The writer of Leviticus then continues on in verse 19:2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” This was again to remind them that God wanted them to be set apart and that since He was holy, they were to be holy. They were to remember that they were no longer enslaved. He wants us to remember that we are no longer bound in sin and the world and that we should live a life entirely dedicated to Him.

A life of personal holiness does not make us 'holier than thou.' We are warned repeatedly of turning into pharisees with our words and our actions,but instead we are told that we need to be as Christ and walk in His sandals. Rather than acting all holy like the pharisees did and becoming modern versions of them, we are to be like Christ and feed the hungry, aid the poor, intercede for the the fallen, encourage the downcast, mourn with the sorrowful and rejoice with the blessed, even fellowship with the lost and the sinful (gasp!). The thing about personal holiness is that it is an internal affair instead of being external actions. Being holy on the inside makes you holy on the outside. Acting holy on the outside is just like trying to use cologne to cover the stench of not having showered in months – it ends up irritating everyone who smells you. Your outward holiness drives people away from the cross, while your inward holiness will attract them (first to you and then to Christ). Personal holiness is not bragging about going to bible study, or speaking of how you can't go out with your friends to that party because you have to get up and do your devotions. Personal holiness is going to the bible study without talking about it and getting up early for your devotions without complaining or making excuses to your friends. Personal holiness is living in humility and in constant dependence on God. It is praying for your friends and being a living witness to them despite the problems it causes you.

We are called to consecrate ourselves and be holy, because God is holy. (Lev 20:7) Because we are called to a holy calling (2 Timothy 1:9) we must hold ourselves to the highest standard in our pursuit of Christ-likeness. We do not do this out of selfish ambition or vain pursuit, but rather out of love and respect for our Saviour and Redeemer. We must take every care to hold ourselves to the standard of Christ while not judging those who don't. Remember that in the end, your relationship with God is between Him and you and no one else.

Father God, here is my life. Take it and make it holy. Take it and purify it. All there is in my life that is not pleasing to you please remove it and get rid of it. Lord I desire to be entirely yours. Make me a pleasing aroma to you. Help me to be holy because you are holy. Enable me to let your righteousness abide in me! Amen.