Living Saintly Lives
January 17, 2019
January 17, 2019
Read: 1 Peter 1:13-25
You shall be holy, for I am holy. (v. 16)
The Bible tells us that followers of Christ Jesus are made holy through our faith. We are sanctified. Yet, what does it look like to live out this holiness? What does living like a saint look like? What drives our decisions? A secular vision of a good life, taking its cues from movies, television shows, magazines, commercials, might lead us to conclude that life is about us as individuals. What is important is what we want, think, and can produce or consume. Our value is in our personal identity and our cloak of material goods.
However, the apostle Peter says a good life is to be holy as God is holy. “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart” (v. 22). Sanctification is not purchasing power, it is perfect love. It’s a love that’s found in its purest form in God, through Christ, given to us in the Holy Spirit. As we grow in faith, our motives root themselves ever more deeply in our love for our neighbor and God, not in our self-promotion or self-preservation. Obedience to God’s call to live sanctified lives is not easy. It requires us to love God and our neighbor, sometimes even sacrificing our own desires and personal advancement. If we want to be sanctified, we must love deeply in every thought, word, and action. —Jonathan Greer
As you pray, ask God to help you to love God as deeply as he loves you.
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